Brad Turner Quintet: The Magnificent

If the title of Canadian trumpeter Brad Turner's latest album, The Magnificent, sounds a trifle self-absorbed, rest assured it does not refer to him but to another "magnificent" horn player, the late Thad Jones. The honorific, however, would not be unwisely used if applied to Turner himself, who not only excels on the trumpet but also plays tasteful piano and wrote every one of the album's generally engaging themes.

Although the group is listed on the album cover as "The Brad Turner Quintet," that is only true of the four tracks on which tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds sits in. Elsewhere, Turner leads a seasoned quartet whose other members are guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Quincy Davis. There is some variety within that framework as Turner plays trumpet on three numbers, piano on two.

Turner also writes with variety in mind. As he emphasizes in the liner notes: "I want this to be a record where the listener's curiosity pulls them from one tune to the next..." He succeeds for the most part, using diverse colors and tempos to underscore the group's melodic and rhythmic strengths. Happily, with players such as Bernstein, Swainson and Davis at his side (not to mention Weeds), that is not an overly difficult task.

Weeds is impressive on the session's burners, "Barney's Castle" and the closing "Rosemary," and adds weight on the groovy "Slapped My Mind" and "The Magnificent," whose laid-back ambience is quite similar. Bernstein solos eloquently there, as he does whenever called on. Swainson also has a number of splendid solo turns, especially on "To Begin, Begin," on which he is featured with Turner's trumpet. The leader plays piano on "Slapped My Mind," "Virtue Signals" and "Bernice."

Swainson keeps flawless time, as does Davis, which clears a wide path for Turner, Bernstein and Weeds, making their assignment that much smoother. That work ethic helps raise the album, if not to the level of magnificent, at least to that of very good or, in other words, well above average. One small note: it might have been better to open with the zestful "Barney's Castle" instead of the pleasant but far less engaging "You're OK."

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