Our Delight

When this album was recorded, in 2006, pianist Hank Jones was 86 and saxophonist/flutist James Moody was 81. I mention this simply because you’d have no idea, from listening to them play on this magnificent set, that they were both octogenarians. It’s not that they’re engaging in lots of musical gymnastics – they both play with consummate taste and often with the kind of restraint that comes only with supreme confidence. But you can tell that their minds are still as sharp as they ever were. Jones, in particular, makes chordal and rhythmic choices that would shame the most virtuosic 25-year-old. And Moody’s breath control and phrasing are still a wonder. The program is almost all standards, with one Moody composition I hadn’t heard before, and the group is joined on the Percy Heath composition “Moody’s Groove” by singer Roberta Gambarini. Bassist Todd Coolman and drummer Adam Nussbaum provide perfectly balanced backing. This is a truly special album, made more so by the fact that both Moody and Jones passed away just a couple of years after its release.