Jon Gold: Things Are Looking Up

On Things Are Looking Up, California-bred pianist and composer Jon Gold uses a dozen able musicians in groups of various sizes from duo to quintet to add color and spice to his generally harmonic and accessible post-bop themes.

Four of these themes are tributes to those who have influenced Gold musically or personally, and the album opens with one: a quintet reading of the "For Rudy van Gelder," with sometimes strident solos by tenor saxophonist Kevon Scott and trumpeter John Bailey. The others are "For Woody Shaw" (featuring Bailey again with bassist Michael O'Brien); "For Gary Bartz" (Bryan Murray on soprano and tenor sax); and "Tone Poem for Raul da Gama" (Gold and percussionist Mauricio Zottarelli who performs on all save one of the album's ten numbers, the volatile "Nitro," where he is replaced by J.T. Bates).

Murray returns for an extended solo on "Nitro," which precedes "Carried by the Quietude," the first of two trio outings by Gold, Zottarelli and O'Brien; the other is the lyrical "Entropic Waltz." Another well- known bassist, Harvie S, sits in with Gold and Zottarelli on the even-tempered "De Facto," playing with his usual warmth and savvy, before Bates, Murray and bassist Charlie Lincoln saddle up and gallop through "Nitro." Gold does not solo often, but when he does, his ad-libs are always smart and worth hearing.

A solid album in most respects that manages to sustain interest despite its several changes in perspective and personnel.