No Net Nonet

3 1/2 STARS Young tenorman Lucas Pino has led a monthly residency at Smalls Jazz Club with his smart nine-piece ensemble since March 2013, which explains why the band sounds so tight and cohesive on its self-titled debut, No Net Nonet. Out of the gate, the band navigates blistering, breakneck lines with hairpin precision on opener "The Fox," which features well-articulated serpentine runs from the leader followed by a more spacious solo from trombonist Nick Finzer, allowing the band to catch its breath before the momentum picks up again. Pianist Glenn Zaleski's "On The Road" opens with Alex LoRe blowing the boppish, flute-like melody on alto before weaving in a pair of countermelodies that launch trumpet player Matt Jodrell into a compact but dazzling turn. Zaleski's arrangement of Kurt Rosenwinkel's "Homage A'Mitch," a dedication to the band's patron, Smalls owner Mitch Borden, begins with a lush chamber massing of the five horns before taking the original at a swinging lope that forefronts Rafal Sarnecki's guitar. On his own tunes, Pino shows himself to be an inventive melodic thinker with a gift for corralling his bandmates into a deft but driving weave.