Formanism

With 16 albums to his credit since 1978, guitarist Bruce Forman’s newest CD features him with his current trio—bassist Gabe Noel and drummer Jake Reed—on an intriguing selection of nine originals and two standards. True to his bebopper roots, he’s chosen to reinterpret some standards much as the original beboppers did back in the ’40s; thus we have modern variations of such classics as “Oh, Lady Be Good” (a super-hot rendition known here as “Underdog”), a more relaxed “It Could Happen to You” (aka “Formanism”) and one of my all-time favorites, “Flamingo,” which—after a teasingly coy intro—is given a langorous Latin melt-your-heart treatment. The 56-year-old Forman is an amazingly inventive and tasteful player who gets phenomenal support from his rhythm section, whether playing at speed, e.g. his coruscatingly hot “Obstacle Course,” with some solid soloing by drummer Reed, or on his two very different versions of Toots Thielemans’ classic waltz “Bluesette” (reconfigured as “Bruzette”). In the liner notes Forman writes, “When we played these live sessions we were concerned with the vibe. The mood and the groove.” They obviously nailed it. This is a remarkable disc that, if I were making one, would definitely be on my list of the Top Ten CDs of the Year.