Deep River: The Spirit of Gospel Music in Jazz
Cornetist Jim Cullum and his San Antonio band are a treat to see live, with their hopping, bright fullness of sound and pointed expertise at trad jazz. Here Cullum and Co. take up a liturgical musical strain that has always shaded their music, even when played in nonsacred contexts. So many of these tunes, from "Deep River" to their rousing "Down by the Riverside," are dyed-in-the-wool enough to sound ideally fitted for the languid pacing and for any jazz occasion. Cullum's group is a lean septet, intent on allowing each horn's voicing to trot freely in solos and in a fine, clearly toned arena in the ensemble segments. Rarely does the band amp it up to a trad-jazz frenzy, as some of the group's compatriots are wont to do. There are aptly solemn moments, as on "Ave Maria" (which gets a very pretty reading), and guest stops from marqueeNicholas PaytonandClark Terry, as well as vocalists Topsy Chapman and Nina Ferro. --Andrew Bartlett