Still Smokin'

Alto saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith follows up his debut CD (Up in Smoke!, SHP #1025) with another live recording from N.Y.C.'s Smoke Jazz Club. Hendrickson-Smith is rejoined by first-call pianist David Hazeltine and drummer Joe Strasser and has added New York heavyweights Peter Washington, Ryan Kisor and Peter Bernstein to the mix. Hendrickson-Smith's big, open, bluesy sound is reminiscent of alto masters Cannonball Adderley and Jackie McLean. The band's conception, in both quartet and sextet configurations, harkens back to the sound and feel of the Blue Note sessions of the early 1960's. This is a hard-blowing, swinging date that will appeal to fans of the hardbop era.