Ximo Tebar with Joey DeFrancesco & Idris Muhammad - The Champs: The Jazz Guitar Trio, Vol. 4 (2004)

Subtitled "The Jazz Guitar Trio, Vol. 4," this CD was recorded live in Barcelona in 1999. It's clear from the first track, a greasy version of Jimmy Heath's "Ginger Bread Boy," that this will be a straight-ahead romp. This is the 11th CD for award-winning Spanish guitarist Ximo Tebar, an excellent player with a warm tone that (thankfully) bears no resemblance to the Hawaiian shirt school of electric guitar; in his notes, Benny Golson calls Tebar "astounding." He's creative and classy, using his powerful chops to further the music rather than his own ego; he's also a talented scatter (see especially "Donna Lee"). DeFrancesco is in fine form — less flamboyant here than he'd become — and does credible Miles imitations on "But Not For Me" and "You Don't Know What Love Is." There's a swinging "Sugar" and a blazing closer, Dizzy's "The Champ." This is a good CD for dealing with the end of summer: though the leaves may fall, your spirits will rise.