Search - Dave Douglas Quartet, D.D. Jackson Group, Ralph Irizarry and Timbalaye :: Live At Birdland: Cookin' In Midtown

This latter-day Birdland collection catches the club at a very up-to-date phase in its long career. You'd expect to find particular--mostly 1950s- and '60s-era--artists at a place with Birdland's history (click here for a list of Birdland-titled CDs), and what you get instead is a host of younger folk. The CD counters the idea that most exciting jazz at century's turn is happening on the fringe, in the "Downtown" scene around the Knitting Factory, with a stable of strong postbop from pianist D.D. Jackson's violin-led sextet, trumpeter Dave Douglas's quartet, and guitarist Peter Bernstein's laid-back quartet. Never staking the avant-garde realm, this CD also turns a bold face at the listener, with Jackson's slippy piano chords and tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene and his band's Wayne Shorter-esque modal compositions. But the most ear-catching moments come when Ralph Irizarry and Timbalaye are blasting away with their dance-groove Cuban bop. Bright and fast, it's this impressive collection's strongest suit. --Andrew Bartlett