Greg Piccolo - Homage (2023)

Here's one modern tribute disc that's worth celebrating -- a Greg Piccolo showcase where he covers tunes once done to a turn by husky-toned tenor sax growlers in the jazz and R&B arenas. Illinois Jacquet, Red Prysock, Gene Ammons, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ben Webster, Clifford Scott, and Joe Houston are the objects of Piccolo's veneration, and he can make you do a double-take at the accuracy and grit of his impressions. Lester Young is the ringer on the tribute list, in a category separate from the heavier-toned players listed above, yet Piccolo appropriately lightens his tone a bit while retaining the slurred majesty of the other tracks on "Lester Smooths It Out." This recording contains none of the usual genuflecting reverence that grips most tribute albums, for it has plenty of fire, spirit, and a sense of fun; dig, for example, Piccolo's R&B honking and ultrasonic squealing on Houston's "Blow Joe Blow" and the gospel-driven fervor on Prysock's "Handclappin.'" The band (Reese Wynans on organ and piano, Marty Ballou on basses, Jeffrey Cashien on acoustic guitar, and Bobby Ruggiero on drums) easily swerves back and forth between jazz and R&B, generating some pretty tough swing along the way, and Piccolo gets in a few lead guitar licks. What's also unusual about this CD is that Piccolo tries to stay mostly within the time limits of 78 RPM discs and early LPs; no track runs over 4:57, and most are considerably shorter. There's something to be said for that practice; it enforces conciseness and reduces listener fatigue.