With a deep respect for tone quality, trumpeter Fred Forney has put together a collection of modern mainstream arrangements that serve the jazz tradition well. With the Chuck Marohnic Trio, Forney explores familiar territory. Half are the trumpeter’s compositions. His "Caverns" moves with drama and mystery; the trumpet floating irregularly atop a solid piano trio harmony and rhythmic foundation. Forney’s piano/flugelhorn duet tribute to Art Farmer offers warm phrases and somber thoughts. We lost Art Farmer in October. After losing so many respected jazz artists in 1999, it’s comforting to know that we’ll always have their music to remember them by.

Equal parts hard-charging straight-ahead bebop and slow, romantic ballads, Forney’s album brings us several aspects of the trumpet’s solo-voice strengths. Both Forney and hard bop saxophonist Tony Malaby deliver excitement and brightness on "Second Opinion." "Body and Soul," as well, is performed bright and bouncy, while "Lady Sings the Blues" turns expressive via muted Miles-like trumpet. For his frail ballad "My Platelets are Low," Forney wanders a little out of tune (consistently sharp on the low notes) in a demonstration of applied impressionism. Forney’s debut album - created with excellent results at The Sound Lab in Tempe, Arizona - comes highly recommended. Calling Phoenix home, the forty-something educator is but one more example of the mass of local artists around the world who go unrecorded year after year. In the liner notes, jazz critic/author Todd Jenkins describes Forney’s session appropriately as "conveying comfort and emotion in ways that appeal to the more romantic areas of mind and heart."