Reflections

****1/2 Why is it that some jazzmen never seem to get their due? Mark Colby strikes me as one of these. Possessor of a brightly burnished, round, full, warm tone on tenor, he perhaps sounds most like his mentor Stan Getz, but not in a slavish or overweening way. Indeed, over the years he has developed his own individualized approach and sound. Moreover, he has complete control of his instrument, the ability to play with conviction in almost any setting and genre of jazz, and remarkable skills as a bandleader and composer.

Whether mining the great American songbook ("Close Enough for Love," "Like Someone in Love," "So in Love," and "Somewhere over the Rainbow"), dipping into the Getz repertoire, ("Desafinado"), nailing some pure bop (Phil Woods' swinging "Squires Parlor), or playing the heck out of his own compositions ("Myth Mary's Blues," "Reflections," Caroline's Romp"), he always delivers a standout performance. It takes a master to call up equally authoritative renditions of Tin Pan Alley, classic bop, Brazilian samba, and Ornette Coleman, but Colby pulls it off with casual aplomb. He nicely varies things from a basic sax-bass-drums grouping to the same trio plus piano, to the trio plus guitar, to a sextet for one number. Less accomplished musicians trying this often produce something that sounds disjointed. Not here. Everything flows seamlessly.

Repeated listens uncover new subtleties, such as the power of Colby's softer playing, fully revealed on his noteworthy reading of "Somewhere over the Rainbow," taken?surprisingly?as a trio. Here the telepathic interplay of his longtime rhythm partners is vividly on display. On the strength of this wholly satisfying session, Mark Colby deserves much greater recognition.