New Release: Under the Covers from Steve Luciano

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New Release:  Under the Covers from Steve Luciano
Label: Self-Released
Add Date: June 3, 2024
Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAwUyesVye9EYWYJMNDlj4w

Straight-ahead jazz guitarist and bebop impresario Steve Luciano has a style of playing that allows his notes to move seamlessly, articulating each phrase with a pristine tone, resembling the evocative playing of George Benson and Charlie Christian.  Supporting Luciano on his release Under the Covers are: Mike Avila on percussion, Charlie Siva on bass, Walt Hubbard on drums, and Dan Jordan on tenor saxophone and flute. The quintet swings with a classic swag on Duke Pearson's iconic “Chant," shifting to the laid-back strokes of "I'll Take Romance," a notable work by Oscar Hammerstein II and Ben Oakland, resonating a swell of glistening twinkles.  Luciano's tender playing on Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke's number “Like Someone In Love” is cradled in a warm bebop rhythm, ballooning into a lofty big band fluster along "Hammer Head," a trademark piece by Wayne Shorter.  The slow tide of Lucio Dalla's soothing ballad "Caruso" is haloed in Jordan's meandering flute inflections floating above Luciano's genteel stride, which he refits to join the bristling bebop palpitations of "Everything I've Got," composed by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.  A collection of cover songs, Luciano's interpretations are performed with stylized fluency and immaculate clarity.

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