FiveLive (Recorded Live at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club)

Album review

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 /TiVo