Night Sounds

Personnel: Toni Sola (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone).
Recording information: 2000.
The four musicians on this CD are all Spanish and the liner notes are in Catalan, but there is no communication problem when it comes to the music, which is straight-ahead jazz. Toni Sola has a warm tone on tenor and sounds particularly comfortable caressing the melodies on the ballads although he also cooks on one of the most up-tempo versions of John Lewis' "Afternoon in Paris" ever recorded. In addition, Sola takes a solo worthy of Gene Ammons on the lowdown "Night Sounds Blues." Ignasi Terraza (who has led several CDs of his own) is a well-rounded pianist who is quite skilled both as a soloist and in accompanying the tenor. Bassist Manuel Alvarez and drummer Oriol Bordas are tasteful and swinging in support of the lead voices. Fans of bop-oriented jazz will certainly enjoy this release from the Italian Swingfonic label. ~ Scott Yanow