Billy Higgins - Billy Higgins Quintet (1997)

Although Billy Higgins appeared on literally hundreds of sessions as a sideman, the famous drummer didn't record nearly as many albums under his own name. One of the albums he provided in the 1990s was Billy Higgins Quintet, which was recorded in 1993 but didn't come out in the U.S. until 1997. This time, Higgins is in the driver's seat, leading a cohesive post-bop/hard bop quintet that boasts Harold Land on tenor sax, Oscar Brashear on trumpet, Cedar Walton on piano, and David Williams on bass. Land, Brashear, and Walton all have their share of inspired solos, and the swinging Higgins brings out the best in his colleagues on well-known jazz standards like Tadd Dameron's "Hot House" and Thelonious Monk's "Jackie-ing," as well as original pieces by Brashear ("Seeker," "Churn"), Walton ("The Vision"), and Land ("Step Right Up to the Bottom"). A very busy L.A. session player, Brashear has appeared on countless R&B and jazz-funk dates. But the passionate trumpeter is also quite capable of playing straight-ahead acoustic jazz, which is exactly what he does on this release. Brashear has a big, fat, highly appealing tone -- one that owes a lot to Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan -- and it is nice to hear him in an acoustic hard bop/post-bop setting. In fact, Brashear's solos on this album explode the silly myth that a jazz musician is destined to lose his ability to play straight-ahead bop and post-bop if he accepts too many commercial R&B gigs. Higgins made a very wise move when he hired Brashear to play on this fine album, which is without a dull moment.