Eleven Daughters

Eleven Daughters is a nice modern mainstream set, with just the right touch of funk and dissonance to recall some mid-1960s Jackie McLean to my ears. The leader plays with the kind of agile muscularity of, say, Michael Formanek and he pairs really well with Menendez, who crackles throughout. Grant and Willcox are both fairly brooding presences, though that's not at all meant as a negative. Together, the group contains a winning assemblage of contrasts. They tend to favor the smoldering, from the propulsive mid-tempo burn on the opener all the way to the tuned drums of the moody closer. In between they take in a fair range of material, all of it dialed back a bit. There's the sweet and wistful title track, with reflective work from Grant (who plays with tons of space and favors pared down phrases that are almost sing-songy). There's the drowsily impressionistic "Late Goodbye" and "Calling for Casey" (with its memorable repeat ing spiral phrases). Things pop along a bit on "Sunrise," a nice feature for Wright's unassuming bass, and the funky, bluesy read ing of "Laura," with some nice but unforced double-time runs from Willcox. It all has the feel of a competent, but not especially memorable club date.