Alexander Claffy: Good Spirits

Bassist Alexander Claffy's quintet dashes from the starting gate on Good Spirits with a fiery reading of McCoy Tyner's propulsive "Inner Glimpse," setting the tone for a bright and animated session whose spirit is undeniably good. The album was recorded "live" (no audience) at GB's Juke Joint in New York City "at the height of the [coronavirus] pandemic" in February 2021.

Claffy's front line consists of trumpeter Benny Benack III and tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover; his teammates in the rhythm section are pianist Julius Rodriguez and the well-known and highly respected drummer Joe Farnsworth. Claffy wrote two of the album's eight selections, and both are tributes—"To the Great Gerald Cannon" (a bassist, painter and educator whose impressive resume validates the superlative) and "Beeb's Lament," a far-from-mournful salute to Benack's nickname. The remaining numbers were composed by Michel Legrand, Harold Mabern, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard and Toninho Horta.

Claffy makes Legrand's ballad "I Will Wait for You" his showcase, firmly plucking the melody and displaying his admirable chops as soloist. He solos again on Henderson's "Isotope" and Hubbard's "Straight Life," but leaves the lion's share of the ad libbing in the hands of Benack, Glover and Rodriguez. And how do they fare? Quite respectably, even though none of the three could be readily singled out in a lineup of their peers. They simply take care of business, and do it well, even though laboring earnestly to keep pace on the frenzied opener, "Inner Glimpse." Things settle down after that, and the ensemble has no problem unsnarling "Gerald Cannon," Mabern's frisky "There But for the Grace Of," or any other number. Rodriguez moves to electric piano on Horta's tender ballad, "Beijo Partido," on which Benack plays muted. The jaunty "Cannon" is a highlight, as are "There But for the Grace Of" and "Beeb's Lament."

If your spirits crave a boost, Good Spirits may be just the tonic you need. And if it isn't, that can't be ascribed to a lack of effort or enthusiasm on the part of Claffy and his colleagues.