Harold Mabern is one of a number of American jazz artists who have developed a strong following in Japan, resulting in regular opportunities to record for the Japanese Venus label. This trio date with bassist
Dwayne Burno and drummer
Willie Jones III (the latter sticking mainly to brushes) covers ten songs from the vast
Harold Arlen songbook, though not all of them are well-known standards.
Mabern's bouncing, breezy opener is a fun-filled take of "Over the Rainbow," followed by a gospel-inflected soul-jazz treatment of "A Sleepin' Bee" that prominently features
Burno. His blues-drenched take of "Blues in the Night" is harmonically rich, while
Mabern's jovial treatment of "I've Got the World on a String" swings like mad. The pianist adds a hip Latin vamp to introduce a soul-jazz-infused arrangement of "This Time the Dream's on Me." "Savannah" is not one of
Arlen's better-known tunes, but
Mabern's chart sets it up as a calypso before seguing into hard bop, with
Jones getting several breaks on sticks.