Pete Mills: This Is Now

As usual, swing is king on This Is Now, Canadian-born tenor saxophonist and composer Pete Mills' sixth recording as leader, one wherein the high-powered opening number (and title song) sets the pace for what is to come on this bright and upbeat session while showing that Mills and his quintet mean serious business.

As is true of most contemporary tenors, you would be hard-pressed to pick Mills out of a lineup; on the other hand, his technique is immaculate, his sound clear and pleasing, his solos ingenious and perceptive. Put another way, Mills is the complete package, as a player and composer (he wrote the first eleven of the album's dozen engaging themes; the last is Billy Strayhorn's impassioned "U.M.M.G," shorthand for Upper Manhattan Medical Group.)

Mills' themes are definitely bop-based, which is fine, as long as they entice the ear and uplift the heart, which is by and large what transpires here, thanks in large measure to Mills' alert and talented teammates, who include pianist Kenny Banks, Jr., guitarist Pete McCann, bassist Martin Wind and drummer Matt Wilson. Together or separately, they give the leader all the support and assurance he needs. Mills leans heavily on them, and they never once bend or break.

For his part, Mills gives them ample red meat on which to chew, starting with "This Is Now" and continuing with such harmonic and rhythmic diversions as "Sunset STX," "Up to Go Down," "Exit Strategy," "Don't Stomp on My Dream," "Sliver of Silver" (for Horace Silver) and others. The sunny and charming "Bird Lives" is a duet with Banks, the buoyant "Window Shopping" a showcase for bassist Wind, "U.M.M.G" another twosome, this one with drummer Wilson.

There are two more tributes: the upbeat "Daddies," to musicians with children, and frisky "Boubar," to a musician met during Mills' travels who is "playful, soulful and a bit crazy in the best possible way." Mills salutes him in the best possible way, with another of his spicy and radiant tunes, thus adding an exclamation mark to a splendid album wherein Mills and his companions are at the top of their game from beginning to end.