Mike LeDonne has made a name for himself as a top-notch organist, though he has chops to burn on piano as well, the latter being his sole instrument on these performances recorded over two nights at
Smoke in the fall of 2007. Joining him are some of his regular collaborators, including tenor saxophonist
Eric Alexander and drummer
Joe Farnsworth, along with trumpeter
Jeremy Pelt and bassist
Jon Webber to round out this excellent group. The pianist's fiery
"Encounter" is built upon the chord changes to
"Love for Sale," which even incorporates a bit of salsa in the midst of its uptempo post-bop structure, with plenty of potent solos all around. The soft, swinging groove of
Pelt's
"Good Times" is highlighted by his tasty muted horn and
Webber's short, effective solo.
LeDonne finds a fresh approach to
Dizzy Gillespie's
"Manteca" by altering the rhythm a bit in the introduction, playing call and response between the piano and horns, then setting the tempo afire as
Alexander blazes a new trail. The pianist also disguises
"I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" with an impressionistic, crystalline solo introduction before adding the rhythm section in his masterful arrangement of this timeless, bittersweet ballad by
Duke Ellington. The quintet signs off with a bluesy, strutting treatment of
Cedar Walton's
"Bleeker Street," no doubt leaving every patron satisfied with their evening's work. ~ Ken Dryden
