Maryse Conte

Guitarist Nicola Conte's sixth recording as a leader is a vocal tour de force, as five different singers split up duties on select tracks. With a substantial horn section pulled from the jazz ranks, Conte takes on the role of producer more than instrumentalist, while exploring various strains of Latin jazz backings for his words and music that are mostly from his personal book of tunes.

One of the tightest, sharpest sessions ever from trumpeter Conte Candoli - an early date done for Bethlehem Records, with a quartet setting that gives Conte plenty of room to cook! The solos are bold and fierce right from the start - with an energy that goes beyond even Candoli's work in bigger groups - and the rhythms are often very lively, and seem to push Conte onto his best level of expression - thanks to work from Stan Levey on drums, Max Bennett on bass, and Claude Williamson on piano. There's a bit more bite here than you'd guess from the west coast pedigree of the group - and titles include "On The Alamo", "I Can't Get Started", "Tune For Tex", "Fine & Dandy", "Night Flight", and "I'll Remember April".

A superior bop-based pianist who has worked with a countless number of top jazz artists, Lou Levy started on piano when he was 12…