Intimate Ellington: Ballads & Blues

On his eighth Criss Cross leader date, Wycliffe Gordon (awarded 2012 Trombonist of the Year by both the Down Beat Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists' Association) distills his exhaustive knowledge of the oeuvre of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn on a well crafted, ten-piece program spanning a timeline from 1927 (Creole Love Call) to 1967 (The Intimacy Of The Blues). Throughout the proceedings, which explore a broad array of flavors, Gordon - spurred by a killer rhythm section of pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Alvin Atkinson - plays with characteristic effervescence and tonal creativity, matched by Adrian Cunningham on saxophones and woodwinds and, on several selections, the soulful violin virtuoso Zach Brock and vocalist Dee Daniels.