Oblivity

Guitarist and composer Shawn Purcell has found an unusual avenue of ascent for jazz professionals. He honed his craft playing in military bands for 15 years, most notably serving as guitarist in the Air Force's premier ensemble, The Airmen of Note, which toured internationally. Amongst civilians, he's played or recorded with Chris Potter, Nicholas Payton, Terell Stafford, Chip McNeill and many others. Oblivity is his third recording as a leader, though he has more than two dozen appearances as a sideman.

The music is crisp, amiable and engrossing. It's easy to assign some of the detailed precision to Purcell's military background, but it's far more rewarding to see each composition confidently move out of the shadow of his influences, especially giants of his instrument like Pat Martino, Grant Green and, of course, Wes Montgomery. The recording opens with the title track, a driving, urgently paced tune highlighted by solos from Purcell, saxophonist Walt Weisskopf, pianist Chris Ziemba and drummer Steve Fidyk. The same four soloists elevate another uptempo burner, "Move The Needle." Purcell's wife, Darden Purcell, adds vocals to the elegant and serene "Quiet The Chaos," which also features trombonist Ben Patterson. The vocalists and the saxophonist feature on the gentle "Meu Amor."

Purcell is 54 years old, and this album is reminiscent of the '80s discs he might have grown up with. CDs enabled longer albums, and Purcell's 10 originals span a wide range of music, like those albums of his youth.