PAPATAMUS REDUX

CELLAR MUSIC (RELEASED NOVEMBER 14)

Follow-Up, the newest recording from Canadian pianist Sean Fyfe and his quartet lives up to its name.  This collection of ten tunes is indeed a wonderful follow-up to their 2024 Stepping Stones release. There are more tunes inspired by some of Fyfe’s favorite piano players from the hard bop era. There are more well-played standards from the Great American Songbook. Best of all, they are all delivered with a sense of swinging honesty and passion by Fyfe and the same British musicians that accompanied him on Stepping Stones — Dave O’Higgins on sax, Luke Fowler on bass and Matt Fishwick on drums. The group is in the groove as they navigate Fyfe originals including the intricate rhythm changes of “Monkey Man,” a tune inspired by Cedar Walton’s “Promised Land” and Bobby Timmon’s “Turn Left;” “Focaccia, a tip of the hat to the Latin-infused sound of the hard bop era; the classic boogaloo vibe of “Follow-Up” and the melodic intervals of the blues “Brown Eyes.” O’Higgins and Fyfe burn through the changes on the up-tempo bop riff of “Double Trouble,” which also features some powerful drumming from Fishwick. The trio of Fyfe, Fowler and Fishwick show their tender side on Jimmy Van Heusen’s  “Darn That Dream;” their sense of swing on Johnny Green’s  “I Cover the Waterfront,” their ability to shift between swing and Latin on a refreshing arrangement of Cole Porter’s “You’d Be So Nice To Come To;’ their sense of humor on a joyful and wonderfully arranged rendition of Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” and their adventuresome side on “Reliance,” a Fyfe contrafact based on Burton Lane’s “How About You.” Rather than simply replaying the songs written by musicians from the hard bop era, Fyfe has absorbed that style and written six originals that capture the blues, grooves and soul of their music and added his own take on four standards. Hoping the follow-up to Follow-Up brings us more of his compositions, his interpretations of standards and the exceptional playing of his quartet.

BOTTOM LINE: With the release of Follow-Up, Cellar Music continues its tradition of keeping the spirit of hard bop jazz alive and well. Canadian pianist Sean Fyfe and his quartet work through six originals and four standards in a recording that captures the  grooves, blues, energy and passion that was a hallmark of classic hard bop sessions without merely  copying them.