Luminescent

Gene's piano work on this quartet outing is full of life and joy, yet he does it without a touch of embellishment... pieces like the opener, "Annette", will make you introspective, but you'll come away with a touch of nostalgia for music that could have been (if only you'd listened to the piano teacher - lol... talking to myself there). Gene is joined by highly talented players, too... Jay Thomas on alto/tenor sax and trumpet, Chuck Deardorf on bass and Mark Ivester on drums; and it all fits together superbly. "Hermosa" has some excellent percussion and (again) is full of the vibrancy that makes life work. I'll have to get up Tacoma way to check Gene out, since it's so near to my home-base... would love to hear compositions like my personal favorite of the nine offered up, the 8:43 "Soul Leo"... if you didn't understand soul before you started listening, you surely will by the time the song ends (& then I find out that I could have met him in Hawaii - since he's lived there for the last 30 years). I give Gene & his crew a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an "EQ" (energy quotient) rating of 4.99.