New Adventures

Personnel: Victor Goines (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Peter Martin (piano); Carlos Henríquez (acoustic bass); Gregory Hutchinson (drums).
The latest album from saxophonist and clarinetist Victor Goines starts out sounding more like old adventures than new adventures -- it opens with a joyful burst of sweet and sassy retro-bop titled "Stop 'n' Go," on which Goines pulls out all his best 1944 licks while hinting more subtly at a Coltrane influence as well. That track segues nicely into a beautiful and resolutely midtempo Lester Young tribute called "Pres' New Clarinet," on which Goines picks up (predictably enough) his clarinet and swings like it's 1939. On a few other numbers, noticeably the Goines compositions "Eternal Devotion" and "New Adventures," the chord changes get a bit more abstract and the solos a bit more self-indulgent, but as a rule this album is a straightforward celebration of melody and joyful swing. Goines' take on the Hoagy Carmichael standard "Nearness of You" is warm and lovely, and his own "Waltz Beneath the Weeping Willow" is almost heartbreakingly lovely, as is his take on Sidney Bechet's gorgeous "Petit Fleur." He even jumps back into a bebop groove on the invigorating "Cochise," which features a dizzying, almost perpetual-motion head. Pianist Peter Martin, bassist Carlos Henriquez, and drummer Greg Hutchinson provide a powerful but tastefully restrained foundation for Goines' excursions. Very highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson