Album Reviews

This Village Vanguard Inside Straight set was recorded December 2014 a week before bassist McBride recorded with his trio another Village Vanguard engagement that became his Mack Avenue debut album.

For some reason this one sat in the digital can until now and makes a double LP debut that will have you wondering why it was held back.

McBride plus Steve Wilson on sax, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Peter Martin and drummer Carl Allen do as McBride's liner notes suggest: they have fiery fun swinging on a set of originals contributed by McBride, Wolf and Wilson.

The music is and the group's name (the result of a fan contest) suggests, very inside and straight ahead, no mind games need apply. You'll be caught up in the fun almost immediately and it wouldn't be wrong to call much of it "rocking out" jazz, though "Ms. Angelou" is a gorgeous contemplative Wilson ballad that provides a needed reflective break before the group heads up-tempo with a McBride original "Shade of the Cedar Tree" in which Wilson trades the soprano for the alto.

All original compositions, all hits, no misses, great sound, high-powered, and inspired virtuoso performances. A visit to The Village Vanguard you are sure to enjoy.