Joe Lovano Nonet / On This Day... Live at the Vanguard (2003)

I was blown away because the sound of Lovano's nonet is HUGE! You feel the energy like you're right there in the club. It's the only band I’ve ever heard that can outstrip Mingus Big Band in terms of drive, presence or versatility. The all-star lineup nails taut grooves like Lovano’s opener "At the Vanguard" just as easily as they work the softer side of classic ballads like "Laura" or “After the Rain.” The latter is a tasteful and well executed cover of Coltrane’s moody, noir classic. It uniquely captures all the longing and patiently developed beauty of the original, never echoing Coltrane’s interpretation too closely. Moving to a tune that Coltrane himself once covered, the band shifts gears with Tadd Dameron’s “Good Bait” in a dangerously crowded and hard swinging arrangement that gets the crowd roaring. In the middle, there’s a jumping solo from baritone Scott Robinson that recalls the work of Gerry Mulligan but goes a few steps farther in its wild inventiveness. The mark of a masterful improviser is that if you listen to the same solo repeatedly, its spontaneity and spark will hold up each time, and it will still surprise you. Soloing on this disc fits that bill. Everyone shines, and it seems they all get a turn, too, punctuated by loud and brassy figures blown by the whole group. Lovano is in top form, and so is alto Steve Slagle. Somewhat hidden by the impressive reeds and brass, the rhythm section of John Hicks and Lewis Nash offer the record’s hidden treasure. Nash’s endlessly creative fills and sharp interjections of percussive voice prod the arrangements with stimulating energy, while Hicks interplays with soloists and comps reflectively on the piano. The album is in regular rotation at my house, sometimes two or three times in a row. Thanks, Joe.