Bassprint

A fixture on the Chicago scene, versatile bassist-composer-bandleader Marlene Rosenberg is joined on the smart, eminently swinging set by three Windy City transplants: guitarist Scott Hesse, Parisia-born drummer Makaya McCraven and the fine saxophonist Geof Bradfield. Rosenberg reveals key influences -- namely Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter -- on "Tale of Two Monk Keys," which points up her woody, robust upright tone, and on the mysterious "Wayne-ish" and melancholy ballad "Eyes for Shorter." She pays tribute to a mentor with beautiful renditions of Kenny Barron's "Lullaby" and "Sunshower," and steps it up on the unaccompanied "Prelude - Bassprint." Bradfield's resounding tenor solos, along with Hesse's dark, Pat Martino-ish tone and inventive post-Kurt Rosenwinkel chops, invigorate this winning session.