Giants

Drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. has been busy. He is playing in bands led by Christian McBride and Kurt Elling, leading his own Don't Miss a Beat foundation-charity, leading his own small groups and a big band, and now he is venturing into a role as producer. And guitarist Barry Greene couldn't have had a better producer at the helm of his new record Giants. Comprising of two separate bands, an organ trio with organist Pat Bianchi, and a quintet featuring pianist David Kikoski and vibraphonist Steve Nelson. The trio finds a nice relaxing groove on "Backtrack." The quintet offers a nice reading of Sam Jones' classic "Unit 7," and the potential for any clashes between all those chorded instruments (guitar, piano, and vibes) is avoided. Throughout, Owens keeps the band on their toes, and provides a nice pulse with bassist Marco Panascia. Playing in an organ trio and a jazz quintet require different things from a drummer and Ulysses provides it all. Greene pays his tributes to the jazz guitar greats Wes, Grant, both Pat's, and Russell Malone. "Green Street" is a great trio track, and Metheny's "Question and Answer" is the best quintet track, but all the music is very good, and the record has a cohesive quality that is difficult to achieve when there are two different bands being used on one record. Big congrats to Greene and Owens on Giants, it is nice and enjoyable record.