Valery Ponomarev - Trip to Moscow (1988)

For his second Reservoir set, trumpeter Valery Ponomarev performs six of his originals, which are dedicated to different aspects of the Russian homeland from where he had emigrated 15 years earlier, as well as Irving Berlin's "The Best Thing for You." Despite the unfamiliar material (none of the trumpeter's tunes became standards), the music is mostly strictly hard bop, quite accessible and hard-swinging. Ponomarev is joined by the John Coltrane-inspired tenor saxophonist Ralph Moore, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Dennis Irwin, and drummer Victor Jones for this excellent outing. © Scott Yanow