Bobcats Trio - Music for the Sole (2019)

The music on the Bobcats Trio’s debut album, Music for the Sole, is as comfortable as a pair of old shoes—dancing shoes, of course, because these cats can swing. The trio of Bob Gusch (clarinet, alto sax, flute), Dan Dowling (guitar, vocals), and John Griffin (acoustic bass) represent decades of musical experience hereabouts, across a variety of musical genres from klezmer to rock, choro to jazz. As the Bobcats Trio, they focus on swing standards of the last century. They want you to get up and dance, and with the rhythm section of Dowling and Griffin making an immediate connection with your feet, it’s easy to do just that. Dowling offers a master class in rhythm guitar, and Griffin is right there with him (listen to him swing a single note in the Jobim/Mendonca composition “Meditation”). Gusch reveals himself to be a delightful improviser, launching into solos with a pure and palpable enthusiasm. Dowling and Griffin also shine in that department, offering up several concise solos, and Dowling charms with a warm baritone on several vocals. The album’s 11 tracks—penned by such household names as Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Juan Tisol, and Jobim, among others—are as familiar as the face in the mirror, and the Bobcats (likely another play on words, apparently a Gusch specialty) delight in that familiarity as you do with old friends. They play with a verve and an economy that serves the music well and will soon have you on the dance floor.