| Steve Hobbs | Primary Artist, Vibes |
| Bill O'Connell | Piano |
| John Riley | Drums |
| Peter Washington | Bass |
| Irving Mills | Composer |
| Ray Noble | Composer |
| Steve Hobbs | Arranger |
| María Mendez Grever | Composer |
| Stanley Adams | Composer |
| Mitchell Parish | Composer |
| Hank Williams | Composer |
| Manfred Knoop | Producer, Engineer |
| George Tibbles | Composer |
| George Bennard | Composer |
| Marcel van den Broek | Art Direction, Cover Design, Cover Photo |
| Frank S. Perkins | Composer |
It's been a few years since I have seen or heard any of Steve Hobbs' music. I knew he was one the best vibes players I had ever heard when I first heard him in Chicago in the mid 1980's, and have since heard him in Newark, Baltimore, and Richmond, as well as a dozen or so recordings. But this CD clearly puts him as my favorite currently performing vibes player.
His arranging, playing and composing has always been tops. But this recent recording of all standards seems to focus on his playing. He can play patterns, and chromatic lines like all the other name vibe players.
However Hobbs has the ability to build melodic motifs that develop into an entire chorus of fresh ideas that can't be copied. He is a true stylist, and a true improviser. He always has been a stylist, but it is very evident on this recording.
The way that Hobbs and pianist O'Connell play off each others ideas is the best I have heard with any vibe/piano combination. Perhaps even better than Hobbs/Kenny Barron recordings from the 1990's. Hobbs' playing was good then, but it has come a long way....more melodic, but still very adventurous.
It's obvious that Hobbs knows a lot about jazz harmony, but it never seems to get in the way of his spontaneity. He builds off the piano chords, bass lines and drum rhythms, while still maintaining his own train of thought. He is an amazing player.
Bill O'Connell has long been one of my favorite pianists. His work with Dave Valentin, Lee Connors, Steve Hobbs (Spring Cycle), and Charles Fambrough is always world class. O'Connell, like Hobbs, has his own, unmistakable style. His solos are never repititious and he comps wonderful behind Hobbs' melodies.
Peter Washington sounds fantastic on bass. I was a bit surprised by Washington's playing on the second track of this CD (Hey Good Looking). His playing on this track is almost avant-garde at times, and he almost seems to take the helm of where the group improvisation goes on this one track. On all other tracks he simultaneously outlines chord changes while playing counterpoint to the solist's ideas; like only Peter Washington can.
John Riley.....Who wouldn't be living the life of Riley with a sense of time like he displays on this record! He is a very hard swinging drummer.
The liner notes did not make it clear as to whether this combination of 4 guys perform outside of the studio as a group. All I know is they sound like a cohesive group on this recording. If you like maintream jazz, buy this CD! It's got it all, standards that don't get overplayed, with tight arrangemets and very high level improvisation.
Editorial Reviews
All Music Guide - Michael G. Nastos
Steve Hobbs is a new name to many jazz lovers, but has been an up-and-coming vibraphonist named in critics' polls for a long time. The New Yorker grew up in North Carolina, and he feels his somewhat Southern roots made good gravy for the basis of this project, taking rural themes into metropolitan means via swing and bop. With veteran pianist Bill O'Connell, the peerless bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Jim Reilly, Hobbs picked a series of songs with references to the lower third tier of the U.S. in order to demonstrate how the region has grown out of whatever close-minded tendencies it may have had a decade or so prior. Whether that is truly so, the music is ...