Tuesday Morning Feeling

Right up front, let me state for the record, that I want a big slab of whatever Ben Markley's Tuesday mornings are made of. Because his latest album, Tuesday Morning Feeling, comes charging out of the gates like a band possessed. His big band has a few ringers in the mix, including vibraphonist Steve Nelson and trombonist Steve Davis, and Chicagoan Kyle Swan, and between Markley's charts and the players in the band, Tuesday Morning Feeling is pretty fantastic album. According to Markley, the goal was to focus on his own work this time out, unlike his last album, Clockwise, which dealt with the music of Cedar Walton. He still throws in a few choice arrangements of others' works, one from Thelonious Monk, two more from Cedar Walton and the beloved standard "Old Folks." Since Markley wanted to focus on his music on the album, I will do the same here. As previously mentioned, the opening track, "Tell the Truth" came barreling out of my speakers something fierce. Well, alright! We've got ourselves a band! And a writer! "Jife" didn't really turn down the heat all that much, nor did "Ben's Tune." Markley's Big Band is cookin'! "Snowy Range Blues,""Tuesday Morning Feeling" and "1330" all show off Markley's skills as a composer, his good taste as an arranger and his good sense to let a band like this just swing and swing hard. If this album is what a Tuesday Morning Feeling is like, I'll take more Tuesdays and less Saturdays. I'm just sayin'.