Joe Magnarelli: Decidedly so

Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli has been a bright light on the New York-area jazz scene for four decades, since arriving in the city in 1986 from his native Syracuse, NY. On Decidedly So, his eighteenth recording and third for Cellar Music, Magnarelli ushers a top-drawer quintet through its paces in a pleasing session that encompasses a trio of standards and five original compositions, including four of his own.

The only fresh theme not written by Magnarelli is the album's handsome title song, penned by his able front-line partner, trombonist Steve Davis. The standards are Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein's "This Nearly Was Mine," Sigmund Romberg's "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" and Victor Young's "When I Fall in Love," played back-to-back before the album's closing tune, Magnarelli's sassy and swinging "Jimmy's Blues," written for his older brother.

The session opens with Magnarelli's "D.J.," an all-guns-blazing salute to basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Johnson, before moving on to the charming mid-tempo "Decidedly So" and two more of Magnarelli's absorbing themes, "Good Health" and "10th Anniversary," the last written to honor the ten years Magnarelli spent with his wife, the jazz organist Akiko Tsuruga, who died in September 2025.

For comparison's sake, Magnarelli sounds much like one of his role models, bop maestro Blue Mitchell, while Davis' clever ad libs and super-clean lines call to mind the great J.J. Johnson, among others. Pianist Jeremy Manasia is another strong soloist (at his best on the standards), while bassist Clovis Nicholas and drummer Rodney Green form an alert and air-tight rhythmic duo.

When all is said and done, the question is whether the album bears enough musical weight and performative substance to warrant the consideration of those who appreciate the intensity and sophistication of straight-ahead contemporary jazz. And the answer is, Decidedly So.