Brent Laidler: Hidden Gems

The Hidden Gems alluded to by guitarist Brent Laidler on his third recording as leader comprise unique and seductive melodies and chord changes he uncovered while taking time during the Covid pandemic to skim through and sight-read some 14,000 tunes in 'fake books' and on his laptop computer, most of which never made it past that platform, even though many were written by well-known jazz artists.

In his sortie, Laidler writes that he "began to come across some really well-crafted changes that [he] thought were beautifully compelling, but to the best of [his] knowledge never made it into a modern Real Book." It felt, he adds, "like [he] was discovering 'hidden gems.'" Laidler arranged 10 of the themes for a sextet whose front line includes trumpeter Mark Buselli and saxophonist Ned Boyd, and whose charming rhythms are adeptly managed by Laidler, organist Jamie Newman, drummer Richard "Sleepy" Floyd (who is far from asleep) and (on eight numbers) bassist C Scott Pazera.

Even though Laidler and the team chart a trim yet steady course, never straying from well-worn paths, they manage to wrest the utmost elegance and allure from each of these "gems," thanks to their close-knit interplay and clear-sighted artistry. The songs themselves, meanwhile, are as a rule so sunny and engaging that one can't help wondering why their last home should have been in a 'fake book.' The composers, by the way, include Cannonball Adderley, Dave Brubeck and Bobby Hutcherson, among others.

"Ballad for B," based loosely on Hutcherson's "Little B's Poem," features the sextet's own Mr. B. (Buselli) on flugelhorn. Elsewhere, solo space is closely divided among Laidler, Boyd and Newman (who relocated to the East Coast during the Indiana-based session and flew back to help complete it). Again, no new ground is broken, but everyone is polished and articulate. The same can be noted about the album as a whole, as Laidler has indeed identified several Hidden Gems and given them a long-delayed yet well-deserved moment in the sun.