Flutist Laurel Zucker and her musicians give the finest performances of Claude Bolling's popular Suites for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio on disc since the composer's best-selling versions with Jean-Pierre Rampal. In fact, I prefer them to the "creators". For starters, Zucker's pretty, expressive tone and organic feeling for jazz embellishments (like sliding into notes, bending pitches for bluesy effect, and so forth) make Rampal's comparable mastery sound relatively glib. Lyrical movements like the first suite's Sentimentale and second suite's Amoureuse boast easier lilt and conversational flow. While the more elaborately notated ensemble passages such as Fugace's peppy counterpoint and Jazzy's tricky unison "head" yield nothing to Rampal and Bolling's dazzling precision, Zucker generally benefits from her more responsive, inventive, and stylistically advanced rhythm section.

Pianist Joe Gilman's "comping", for example, is more angular, supple, and playful, while drummer David Rokeach's debonair brushwork deftly shadows the pianist's phrases. Bassist Jeff Neighbor's sly, rubbery upper-register ascents open up the textures and provide refreshing breaks from time keeping duty. Few can navigate classical and jazz styles ("legit" and "illegit", if you will) with equal authority, but these musicians certainly do. If you wish to add Bolling's delightful, unpretentious suites to your collection, this beautifully recorded release has "first choice" written all over it. [8/18/2004]

--Jed Distler