Groove Machine

For a very different take on a guitar-led quartet, consider this, Charlie Apicella & Iron City's third recording. As its title suggests, these guys are mining a vein that was first discovered by similarly-configured ensembles during the "hard bop" era of the early 1960s: whenever you see a group that consists of guitar (Apicella), tenor sax (Gene Ghee), organ (Radam Schwartz) and drums (Alan Corzin), you can reasonably expect to be in for a funky time. But in this case it's not just funky: there's a very fun calypso number written by the organist and a gorgeous ballad featuring violinist Amy Bateman, and one or two numbers (including the brilliant "Ironcity") that feel more like straight-ahead old-school bebop than hard bop or 1960s soul-jazz. But there's no point in worrying about genre boundaries; Apicella and his crew are simply making great jazz, both new and old.