Gratitude / Various Gratitude / Various CD

On his fourth recording with the Tim Ray Trio, all on Whaling City Sound, Greg Abate and friends search for and find the true essence of jazz. With no formal rehearsals, and subsequently, no overdubs, mulligans, and redos, the band captures it's performance in truth, in full, and in the moment. With the seasoned support of Tim Ray (piano), John Lockwood (bass) and Mark Walker (drums), Abate and his various horns (alto, tenor and baritone saxes, as well as ute) cruise through a slate of mainly originals, along with Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" and Roland Kirk's "Serenade to a Cuckoo," done here on tenor sax rather than the customary flute. Tim Ray and the trio add their surprising version of Fats Waller's "Jitterbug Waltz." Abate is one of jazz's pure, natural talents, with energy, imagination and technique. The crowd must have really enjoyed this session because the sound, recorded and mixed by John Mailloux, is superb and the performances creative and exhilarating.