In his groups, drummer
Danny D'Imperio
has successfully revived the hard bop of the 1950s and '60s, not just the style but also bringing back to life both standards and obscurities from the era. Other than
"Theme for Ernie"
(a previously unissued number from a 1994 date), all of the music on this
Sackville
CD is from August 19-20, 1996. The instrumentation ranges from a three-horn sextet to a nonet (with up to four saxophonists and a conga player). Among the key players are
Greg Gisbert
and/or
Andy Gravish
on trumpet, altoist
Gary Pribeck
, tenor saxophonist
Ralph Lalama
, and pianist
Hod O'Brien
.
D'Imperio
's impressive group performs tunes by
J.J. Johnson
(including his lesser-known
"Sidewinder,"
which has no relation to
Lee Morgan
's
"The Sidewinder"
),
Horace Silver
,
Wayne Shorter
(
"One by One"
Neal Hefti
Wes Montgomery
Hoagy Carmichael
"Skylark"
Gigi Gryce
Barry Harris
, and
Dizzy Gillespie
-- quite a strong group of composers. Although playing in the hard bop tradition,
and his musicians are creative within its boundaries and their interpretations are both swinging and fresh. ~ Scott Yanow