The mellow-toned flugelhornist
Jackie Coon is some ways a successor to
Bobby Hackett. His style is lyrical; one can always hear the melody in his solos, and he plays quietly. On this CD, he is mostly heard in the best possible setting, leading a quartet also including pianist
Johnny Varro, bassist
Bob Haggart and drummer
Ed Metz Jr. Two songs add the team of trombonist
Dan Barrett and tenor saxophonist
Rick Fay (all three horn players sing on "Four or Five Times"), and two other tunes find trombonist
John Allred making the group a quintet. Mostly though, the focus is on
Coon's cool horn. He digs into a variety of swing standards, with the highlights including "You Took Advantage of Me," "Avalon," "Tangerine" and "I Would Do Anything for You." Lightly swinging and subtle music. ~ Scott Yanow