Craig Wuepper - Leaps & Bounds (2013)

Drummer Craig Wuepper follows up his superb 2001 debut, The Returnsman, with his equally as compelling sophomore effort, Leaps and Bounds. A New York-based jazz drummer, Wuepper composed all of the material here save for a version of Cole Porter's "I Concentrate on You" and an intimate, Latin-infused version of "My One and Only Love." Joining Wuepper is a veritable who's who of acoustic jazz, including trumpeter Jim Rotondi, tenor saxophonist David Schnitter, pianist David Hazeltine, and bassist Dennis Irwin. The result of Wuepper's efforts is a thoughtful, urbane, and swinging album of straight-ahead jazz.