Album Review: Morning Star from Thomas Heflin
Album: Morning Star Artist: Thomas Heflin Label Name: Blue Canoe Records Website: www.thomasheflin.com The acrobatic configurations and gliding sails piloted by Thomas Heflin with his trumpet bedazzle the mind. His latest CD Morning Star from Blue Canoe Records sees him navigating his team of musicians through scores with a sense of expressive verbosity and seamless interaction. From the samba vibes wafting through "Haiku" to the soul jazz grooves imbibing "Morning Star" and the soft bluesy quakes shimmying along "Evensong," the recording is a vibrant tapestry of jazz, soul, and blues with a speckling of Latin-imbued components. The lobbing knolls crafted by Heflin's trumpet coast along "Evensong," ebbing on occasion to make space for the warmly tempered solos of keyboardist Peter Stoltzman and saxophonist Gregory Tardy. The arrangement is shellacked in the breezy riffs of guitarist Aaron Matson, keeled by the gentle rocking of bassist S...