Oliver Jones was reminded, a couple of years ago, that jazzmen never really retire, and at nearly 80 his latest recording demonstrates why he is an important part of the Canadian jazz pantheon. The album flows through both new material (“The Saskatchewan Suite”) and canon (“Lady Be Good”) with equal ease. “You Look Good to Me” has a particularly nice cosmopolitan bounce, for example. With him is violinist Josée Aidans, who sounds a bit more like Stuff Smith than Stephane Grapelli, and is largely able to keep up with the veterans, although is a bit wooden at times. If you need some fresh dinner jazz, think about this recording—it will seem both familiar and yet isn’t quite easy to place in both time and personnel, a sure sign of mature craftsmen at play.
[rating:3.5]
-DMK
