March 7, 2019
Bobby Hutcherson‘s 2014 album, Enjoy the View, finds the vibraphonist joining forces with saxophonist David Sanborn, organist/trumpeter Joey DeFrancesco, and drummer Billy Hart on a set of swinging, funky, and adventurous songs. This is Hutcherson‘s first album of studio material since 2009’s Coltrane-inspired Wise One, and follows his 2012 live album, Somewhere in the Night, which also featured DeFrancesco. In a similar vein to Sanborn‘s more straight-ahead acoustic collaboration with keyboardist Bob James, 2013’s Quartette Humaine, Enjoy the Vieweschews Hutcherson‘s more contemporary leanings for a visceral hard bop- and soul-jazz-influenced sound. Here we get a bevy of inspired original compositions, including the moody opening cut, “Delia,” the impressionistic and driving modal soul of “Hey Harold,” and the swinging, funky “Teddy.” Ultimately, Enjoy the View is an album of expansive, highly engaging music that harks back to the best of Hutcherson‘s ’60s and ’70s work.
