Mario Pavone Sextet - Deez To Blues (2006)

Bassist/composer Mario Pavone leads an innovative sextet on this excellent, forward-thinking date released in 2006. Mixing orchestral flourishes with a post-bop vocabulary and a decidedly experimental sensibility, Pavone's music is both highbrow and visceral at once (thanks in large part to the highly rhythmic focus of the music). Violin, piano, tuba, baritone sax, and bass clarinet can be heard in these arrangements, making for a dynamic, mercurial landscape that testifies to the players' ability and to Pavone's skills as a leader and composer.