BRUCE JACKSON
Don't Sleep On Your Dreams

Drummer Bruce Jackson leads his trio through a varied and nicely chosen program that includes a couple of Wayne Shorter compositions as well as pieces by Larry Young, Thelonious Monk, Buster Williams, and Dave Liebman. All of these re truly modern jazz compositional heavyweights, and their tunes allow the trio to explore different directions, but there are also two standards which allow even listeners not familiar with tunes like Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints” to realize that this is an inventive and eloquent group of musicians who play together as a cohesive unit.

Pianist Bob Himmelberger is firmly in the Bill Evans school of pianists, and he plays beautifully throughout, as does bassist Nicolas Bayak, who solos a fair bit and comes out sounding really good. Jackson’s drum work is the final ingredient to this combo that is able to swing fiercely when required, but that also has a great way with a ballad. Case in point: the group’s take on the standard “Never Let Me Go,” on which Himmelberger sets the stage and takes a pretty solo. Bayak’s solo is also impressive, and Jackson provides subtle shading with an array of cymbal work, saving his snare for really important punctuation.

The group does really well with the Shorter tunes, which include the opening track, “Footprints.” Although Himmelberger uses blocks of modal chords, he ends up sounding much more impressionistic than the earthy playing one might here from, say, McCoy Tyner on this type of tune. His solo brings in a lot of blues feeling, and moves strongly until Himmelberger hands the solo chair over to Bayak, whose tone is deep and resonant, and who solos with both an elastic feel for rhythm and a flair for improvising melodic lines that many soloists don’t have. The other Shorter tune is “Iris,” paired here with the Tony Williams composition “Pee Wee,” and here Jackson takes a delicate approach, utilizing brushes to allow himself to be both subtle and heard.

The group swings easily, and probably sounds most like the famous Evans trio on Buster Williams’ “Firewater,” which again finds Jackson using brushes, this time with a crisper, more percussive attack. Larry Young’s “Paris Eyes” is more of a hard bop swinger, and Jackson shows himself adept at keeping things moving along on this more uptempo number. Also noteworthy is the whimsical Dave Liebman composition “Picadilly Lilly,” which serves as a nice showcase for Himmelberger. Monk’s “Rhythm-A-ning” is taken at a fast tempo, and the group makes no attempt to sound particularly ‘Monkish’ –a wise choice, as these players have many strengths of their own to rely on.

Don’t Sleep On Your Dreams is a beautiful trio recording, and anyone who enjoys a straight ahead yet inventive jazz group will find a lot to like on this CD. It’s a keeper, and so is the Bruce Jackson trio.