Passage

With over a dozen albums to his credit, Andy Narell has almost single handedly popularized the steel pan in contemporary jazz. While long associated with the Caribbean and Trinidad (where the instrument was invented in the early 1940s), Narell has made the subtly nuanced tones of the instrument a compelling presence in jazz (in much the same way that Toots Thielmans popularized the role of the harmonica). For his latest set, with its music for a steel orchestra, Narell traveled to Paris where he called upon the large steel band ensemble, Calypsociation. His writing celebrates the sweeping textures of the assembled players, and creates dazzling platforms for the featured soloists (Michael Brecker , Paquito D'Rivera, and Hugh Masekela). In particular, Brecker--no stranger to a wide variety of settings, genres, and idioms--shines on his numbers, especially the relaxed balladry of "Song For Mia." The highly percussive nature of the music is given full flower by the presence of a solid core of drummers. --David Greenberger