Woody’s Delight again demonstrates that trombonist Steve Turre often composes best in homage mode. Having done tributes for past mentors trombonist J.J. Johnson (One4J) and multi-reedist Rahsaan Roland Kirk (The Spirits Up Above), Turre’s primary focus this time around is trumpeter Woody Shaw, with whom he recorded 14 albums over an eight-year period early in his career.

The opening title track is the most overt nod in Shaw’s direction – blues in G-minor (one of Shaw’s favorite forms of expression) that has a hard-bop pulsation and unison arrangement between Turre and trumpeter Jon Faddis, one that any fan of those late-’70s and early-’80s Shaw discs will appreciate. Faddis sticks around for “Something For Sweets,” named for Basie-band trumpeter Harry “Sweets” Edison, that’s most memorable for the strong, strolling lines of bassist Buster Williams. There are five featured trumpeters in all on Woody’s Delight and Turre’s New Jersey neighbor, Wallace Roney, is up next, glowing beyond his typical Miles Davis-like melancholy on Turre’s haunting, butterscotch ballad, “In Retrospect,” written with Roney in mind, and with Roney’s electric keyboardist, Araun Ortiz, blending with Turre’s pianist Xavier Davis in a manner that isn’t fulsome but faithful to the fragility of… read more »