Album Review: An Adventurous Dream

Presto Music

Barney Whittaker

Neither one of these individuals is unfamiliar to these dispatches, as our gushing reviews of Kofi’s reissued tribute album Plays Monk and Altera Vita, his ethereal collaboration with Ukrainian jazz harpist Alina Bzhezhinska from earlier this year, certainly prove.

Meanwhile, Shaw remains the toast of Soho; his latest, Greek Street Friday, managed to keep a smile on our faces throughout last year’s prolonged autumnal spell.

Together, these consummate professionals explore the ins-and-outs of the Ellington/Strayhorn songbook, lovingly bringing the American composers’ oeuvre to life with vivifying zeal. Personal highlights include Kofi’s take on Isfahan, in which the saxophonist resurrects the lusty tempers of Johnny Hodges.

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