Quartet Plus, Volume 2

Rich sounding Mason Razavi splits his album up with half the songs performed in a quartet setting with Bennett Ruth-Newell/p-key, Dan Robbins/b and Cody Rhodes/dr with a supplement on the last half by Justin Smith/tp-fh, Ben Torres/as-cl, Kevin Bryson/tb and Alex Murzyn/bs-bcl-cl. Except for the 70s rock version of Duke Ellington's "Caravan" with Torres' searing alto, all of the tunes are Razavi's, ranging from a gracious and gentle "Riverbed" and "When The Ink Ran Dry" with Rhodes' soft brush work to an assertive and fusion "With the Wind At My Back." There are some rich Gil Evans-ish horns that frame the moods of "the laconic "Portrait for Mingus" and the elliptical "Grvunkabop" along with Robbins' electric bass, but best times are reserved on the tender and patient "Looking Forward, Looking Back" and the easy swing of the melodic "Blue and Grey Waltz." Multi-colored suits.