Roswell Rudd Quartet

Keep Your Heart Right

(Sunnyside)

Trombonist Roswell Rudd emphasizes the warmth and humor in his music on this delightful album of 10 agreeably eccentric, original songs laced with ironic wit and homespun philosophizing. He presents these slightly skewed but accessible songs with an unconventional quartet featuring pianist Lafayette Harris Jr., bassist Bradley Jones and singer Sunny Kim. Never a slave to the jazz tradition he knows so well, Rudd mixes Tin Pan Alley, hymns, the blues and jazz styles from New Orleans to free jazz into his playing and composing.

His slurred lines and scooped notes on “Suh Blah Blah Buh Sibi” echo the cadences of speech as well as New Orleans jazz and free jazz. He almost sounds like he’s talking with his instrument on the title track, using his plunger with a dexterity that would make Ellington proud. Kim’s bold, vibrato-heavy voice is rooted in early jazz and pop, and offers a vocabulary and phrasing that’s reminiscent of Sarah Vaughan. So she has the perfect blend of old and new to realize Rudd’s eclectic tunes, from the gently ironic “I Look in the Mirror” to the beatific “Loved by Love.”

Harris, too, is fluent in the areas Rudd’s music addresses. His chiming, percussive attack lands his blues riffs with a punch on “Keep Your Heart Right,” and imparts a holy glow to his gospel-inflected playing on “The Light Is With Me.” Jones feeds everyone the right rhythm and harmony, and solos with grooving lyricism on “Bamako.” Everyone relaxes and has a good time in Rudd’s jovial, left-of-center universe. The whole album swings as merrily as a stroll in a comfy pair of shoes.

- Ed Hazell