The Vibe

The sleek tones of Nanami Haruta's trombone appropriately suffuse The Vibe as she and five other musicians wend their way patiently but authoritatively through eleven tracks recorded, mixed, and mastered by Corey DeRushia. That sensitive engineering emphasizes all the individual instruments, including Michael Dease's horns, Xavier Davis' piano, and the graceful rhythm section of bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. The unity of the ensemble is never more apparent than on "Algonquin," but from the very beginning, Renee Rosnes' "Girlie's World," right up to and including the concluding gentle benediction, "Unchained Melody," the single-minded musicianship fosters a rare combination of the accessible and the engrossing.