City Spirits

Yes, the cover features Vacca and Moran looking like two nerdy jazz tourists who just bumped into Cherry along the Long Island City waterfront, subsequently publishing their memoir like a mid-’80s Vintage Contemporaries paperback. But the music within finds the duo thoroughly engaged with Cherry. Moran’s clear sax lines and Vacca’s gurgling array of balafons, Nepalese cymbals, Moroccan clay drums, and Ghanaian brekete drum provide all the supple support Cherry needs. In a decade that would soon see Cherry’s chops decline precipitously, this is a spirited collaboration.