Joe Syrian Motor City Jazz Octet: Secret Message

No fuss, no frills here, simply forty-seven or so minutes of generally bright and engaging straight-ahead jazz, stylishly performed by drummer Joe Syrian's admirable Detroit-based octet. This is music the group plays often, blending standards from the Great American Songbook with more recent themes by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Leon Russell and others.

The congenial session opens with a pair of well-traveled standards—"Bye Bye Blackbird," and "Star Eyes"—and closes with two more- -"Night and Day" and "I Should Care." Sandwiched between are the good-natured "People Make the World Go Round" (featuring guest vocalist Kenny Washington and a second visitor, Joe Locke, on vibes), Lennon/McCartney's "Here, There and Everywhere," Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" and Russell's "This Masquerade." The charts, albeit less than demanding, are well-drawn and pleasant, allowing ample blowing space between ensemble passages.

Trumpeter Nick Marchione, tenor saxophonist Tim Ries, alto/baritone Carl Maraghi, guitarist Paul Bollenback, trombonist Doug Beavers and pianist Adam Birnbaum are among those who eagerly secure that space, enriching the landscape with luminous and coherent statements. Washington, not best known as a vocalist, shows why on "People." In his defense, there is not much to work with here, and even the usually reliable Locke is largely a non-factor, offering a brief and forgettable solo.

Beavers and Ries trade some excellent volleys on "Here, There and Everywhere," while Maraghi's gruff baritone is a welcome presence on "This Masquerade" (as is Ries' sturdy tenor). Marchione, Birnbaum and Syrian are the soloists on "Night and Day," Birnbaum and Ries on an upbeat reading of "I Should Care," arranged (as was "Star Eyes") by John Fedchock.

While there is nothing here that is mind-blowing, neither is there anything less than pleasing. A sharp and well-played session of contemporary small-group jazz from start to finish, one that should please almost any admirer of the genre.