Mike Jones: Are You Sure You Three Guys Know What You're Doing?

Some years ago, after Penn Jillette heard Mike Jones playing in a small club in Las Vegas, he approached the pianist, introduced himself, and said he would like to hire Jones to open his popular magic show, Penn & Teller—on one condition. And what might that condition be, Jones asked, to which Jillette replied, "I'm your bassist." Jones readily agreed, starting a long-running collaboration that has led at last to this superlative album —with Jillette on bass, of course, and drummer par excellence Jeff Hamilton rounding out the trio.

The answer to the question posed by the album's title is a swift and unequivocal "yes." These gentlemen definitely know what they are doing. Jones is a versatile and articulate pianist, Hamilton would make any group, no matter how unschooled, sound better, while Jillette more than holds his own on the upright bass, even soloing like he knows what he is doing. The result is almost an hour of first-class trio jazz that overflows with perception and warmth, seldom conceding a moment that is less than bright and pleasing.

Much of that has to do with the trio's astute choice of material, which consists for the most part of enduring standards from the Great American Songbook but leaves room for Antonio Carlos Jobim's sensuous "Girl from Ipanema," Sonny Rollins' irrepressible "Doxy" and Jones' buoyant and groovy closer, "Blues for Burns." The Gershwin brothers' " 'S Wonderful" sets the compass early, as Smith digs in hard, Hamilton's brush work is typically outstanding, and Jillette fashions the first of several sleek and dexterous solos.

The Dinah Washington staple "What a Difference a Day Makes" leads to "The Girl from Ipanema" and treasures by Michel Legrand ("Watch What Happens") and Bronislau Kaper ("On Green Dolphin Street"). The trio is cool and earnest on the ballad "You've Changed," zestful and dynamic on Juan Tizol's well-traveled but no less enticing "Perdido" (on which Hamilton affirms his mastery of the brushes). Jones is reflective and eloquent playing by himself on the couplet "I'll Close My Eyes" and "Close Your Eyes" before the trio returns to emblazon the standard "Gone with the Wind" (with a nod to Erroll Garner from Jones) and "Blues for Burns" (on which Oscar Peterson seems to be Jones' role model, as he is on "Close Your Eyes").

Self-deprecating allusions aside, these three guys absolutely know what they are doing—an appraisal that most discerning listeners would no doubt endorse after sampling no more than a moment or two of this sunny and delightful medley. While Penn Jillette may have thought he was "in over his head" performing alongside Jones and Hamilton, there is scant evidence of that here. In short, this is a first-class trio, and every member of the group has earned his place without coercion or sorcery.

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