Sean Fyfe Quartet: Late Night

The opening number on pianist Sean Fyfe's latest album, Late Night, is "Happy," which could serve as a subtext for the album as a whole. Even when performing a solo rendition of Billy Strayhorn's mournful "Lush Life," Fyfe somehow manages to sound happy, lending a sunny counterweight to the heart-breaking sense of loss that permeates Strayhorn's jazz classic. Happy seems to be inbred in Fyfe's temperament, which is one of the reasons listening to Late Night is such a pleasure.

Another lies in Fyfe's canny choice of sidemen. A Canadian who now makes his home in London, Fyfe returned to Canada to enlist a trio of Montreal's finest: Sam Kirmayer, who plays guitar the way it should be played, melodically pleasing and harmonically explicit; Adrian Vedady, a bassist whose clear and resonant support would make any pianist comfortable; drummer André White, whose steady and efficient timekeeping orchestrates the dance without stepping on anyone's toes.

Apart from "Lush Life," the charming program consists of seven of Fyfe's original compositions, the most vibrant of which are the last two: "To Wes," a bright and boppish tribute to the late guitarist Wes Montgomery, and the fast-moving "Validation," on which everyone solos with alacrity. That is not to say that anything else is less than engaging, from the breezy opener through "Late Night," "Little Pants," "Needful" and "Stella," each of which is tasteful and well-drawn. While Fyfe and Kirmayer share much of the solo space, Vedady and White have their moments too, and each one delivers with awareness and precision.

In lending their ample talents to this enticing session, Fyfe and his companions submit that Late Night can be a "happy" time as well, a premise that is impressively borne out on every number. These are four musicians who know where they are going and have fun getting there.