Moving Day: The Music of John Shifflett

John Shifflett, who died prematurely in 2017, was one of the more in-demand bass players on the Bay Area jazz scene, very well-known to the cognoscenti there. What was less well-known was his tremendous gift as a composer. On this album, a shifting combo of his friends have gathered under the leadership of saxophonist/clarinetist/flutist Kristen Strom to pay tribute to Shifflett with a program of arrangements of his tunes, plus his setting of a pair of-get this-Stan Rogers songs.

The album ends up being a revelation, not only due to the quality of the original compositions (which achieve that magical and always elusive balance between complexity and accessibility) but also due to the depth, warmth, and brilliance of the arrangements. All of the soloists are marvelous, but the album's finest moments come during the ensemble passages, which are organized with palpable love and constantly-impressive harmonic insight. This is one of the sweetest and loveliest jazz albums I've heard all year.