NEW LIFE FOR OLD JAZZ

Is it retro beatnik jazz?

Is it modern fusion?

It's both. It's loose and playful, but tight as a whip. It's the sounds of Lenny Breau and Miles Davis and. . .(if I really knew jazz, I would go on). It's ten very fresh covers of jazz standards by Thelonius Monk ("Straight No Chaser"), Luis Bonfa ("Manha de Carnaval"), John Coltrane ("Equinox"), and other greats. Percussionist extraordinaire Tom Teasley and his small, but able, posse stray little, if at all, from the originals. Even instrumentally, tradition abounds (double bass, jazz guitar, trombone, vibes. . .), peppered only with exotic worldbeat percussive touches. Yet these old songs sound new, not tired. They live again - and with an excitement that should set even the heads of hep cats' grandchildren a boppin'.