The Bert van den Brink Trio with Rick Margitza: Conversations

Conversations is a soulful disc of jazz and jazz/funk. Often the latter comes in unexpectedly: John Coltrane's "Naima" is invested by drummer Hans van Oosterhout with a heavy funk beat, although tenor saxophonist Rick Margitza plays rather conventionally over it. But of course this is no indication that this quartet isn't capable of shifting down to play a ballad: there's Jacques Brel's "La Chanson des Vieux Amants" immediately following "Naima," and played with a keen sincerity and no funk at all.

In fact, most of this disc has a smoky and intimate feel. Margitza has a warm, buttery tone, and van den Brink displays Evansian delicacy. The rhythm men are competent and unassuming. Then on tracks like the loping "Brother, Can You Spare Me a Dime" they kick it around a little, all in good fun.

This is a disc for late nights with the lights low and the wine poured. Not flashy, not self-important, and full of pleasant jazz wll-played.