Tom Goehring: A Reflected Journey

A Reflected Journey is a quintet date, but it doesn't have a quintet date feel about it. The man of the hour—trumpeter Tom Goehring—doubles on flugelhorn, and his front line partner, the ever engaging and well-rounded Roger Rosenberg, covers baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone and bass clarinet. With all of those horns in the picture, and a large variety of different pairing possibilities at hand, Goehring's able to paint in diverse fashion from track to track during this nine-song program.

Goehring, an eternal student of this music who's studied with everybody from dearly departed trumpeter Laurie Frink to pianist Barry Harris to frame drum giant Glen Velez, has been on the New York scene for two decades, but his discography is remarkably small. He appears on both high profile albums from Darcy James Argue's Secret Society—Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam, 2009) and Brooklyn Babylon (New Amsterdam, 2013)—and a pair of albums from guitarist Jamie Begian's Big Band. Beyond that, Goehring's musical CV includes fourteen years spent in the BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop and gigs with rising stars, like trombonist/composer JC Sanford, and veterans, like bassist Gene Perla. Now, with A Reflected Journey, Goehring takes center stage on record.

The program is split between originals and standards, with four Goehring compositions at the top and five old favorites at the bottom. The most notable of the originals are the feisty "Clarion Call," which gives drummer Paul Wells a chance to shine, and "The Walkdown," which finds Rosenberg working his soprano in a John Coltrane-derived setting. Goehring's trumpet appears on both of these tracks, but he puts his flugelhorn to good use on the title track and the mellow "For Beverly." The covers section of the program starts off with a spirited take on trumpeter Thad Jones' infrequently performed "Bossa Nova Ova" and ends with "Namely You." In the middle, Goehring gives nods to a pair of trumpet icons—Dizzy Gillespie ("Con Alma") and Hugh Masekela ("Grazing In The Grass")—and takes a shot at re-harmonizing "Old Folks."

While Goehring is the architect and owner of this music, he's not selfish with the solo space; everybody gets a chance to shine at one time or another on this enjoyable outing.