March 1998

Armin Marmolejo
Boarding Pass
IGMOD

By Duck Baker

This is solid straightahead stuff, featuring the leader's trombone and tenor Kevin Hays with a fine rhythm section of Ron Blake, Dwayne Burno, and Eric McPherson. The feeling is mid-'60s, between Miles and the Blue Note house band. Exceptional lines and arrangements set things up well, and the soloists all do a good job. I will single out Blake as a particularly convincing player in this context.