Eldad Tarmu: Tarmu Jazz Quartet

The vibraphone is not often heard on the jazz scene these days, which makes this new album by the Tarmu Jazz Quartet even more welcome than it might have been at a time when Red Norvo, Lionel Hampton, Terry Gibbs, Milt Jackson, Cal Tjader, Gary Burton, Bobby Hutcherson, Gary McFarland and their ilk were riding high. Los Angeles-born Eldad Tarmu, who leads the quartet, has his own approach to the instrument, softer and less frenzied than Hampton or Gibbs, leaning toward the more temperate sounds produced by Jackson and Burton, and even veering at times toward Norvo's second instrument, the xylophone.

Tarmu is technically sound and musically astute, having written and arranged all nine of the album's harmonious if less than exceptional numbers. Alto saxophonist Adam Hutcherson is Tarmu's front-line partner, while bassist Sam Bevan and drummer Cengiz Baysal supervise the rhythm, which is solid on every track. Hutcherson, whose alto saxophone is front and center on every tune, is best seen as dependable, mirroring Tarmu's concepts but seldom displaying the sort of singularity that would set him apart from the herd.

Tarmu's compositions, on which the quartet must rely, are generally bright and pleasing, offering an ample measure of rhythmic and harmonic contrast. In spite of that, there is nothing on the menu that is more entrée than appetizer. On the other hand, neither is there anything here that is less than admirable, or less than well-played by Tarmu's talented ensemble. "Self-Inflicted Wounds" is a rhythmic delight, as are "Beneath the Gloss and Shine" and "Mating Calls," while "El Hipnotizador" has a hypnotic charm of its own. Tarmu is tasteful there and elsewhere, as are Hutcherson, Bevan and Baysal.

In sum, a very good quartet date, marked by Tarmu's tempered vibraphone and unflagging support from his sure-handed teammates.