Cattitude

Bassist Piet Verbist sets the tone and the groove on this sleek and swinging set that is reminiscent of vintage Mingus on a collection of originals. He brings together Herman Pardon/dr, Bram Weijters/key and the brilliant double thick sax front line of Jeroen Van Herzeele/ts-ss and Vincent Brijs/bs. The two reeds feel like hot fudge poured over two scoops of vanilla on the sneaky beat of "Cattitude" and the languid "Double Trouble." Weijters creates a film noirish mood with his keyboards on the thoughtful " Beauty in the Beast" which spotlights Van Herzeele's palpable tenor. Verbist himself usually sticks to setting the pace and rhythm, but delivers a well conceived intro on "Aicha's Gift" that a veers into a Latin theme while he also bubbles underneath Brijs' bari on the funky "LPG." The band is both flexible during the solo passages and tight as nails on the ensembles, with a harmonic paste that is hard to let go of. A real cooker.