LOVE DANCE by WOODY SHAW

New York-born trumpeter Woody Shaw was already deep into his most exploratory phase when this Muse session appeared in the mid 70s, a point in his career where spiritual aspiration and post-bop momentum all seemed to fall naturally into his playing style. A remastered edition promises clarity, but what hits you first is the sheer brightness of his tone, and it's a kind of full-saturation brass that slices cleanly through the ensemble. The opener 'Love Dance' rises in long arcs, pulling the band into spacious, searching territory, while 'Obsequious' tightens everything into a harder, more coiled drive. Flip around, 'Sunbath' settles into a warmer drift before 'Zoltan' twists rhythmic fragments into something close to ecstatic. 'Soulfully I Love You (Black Spiritual Of Love)' closes the record with a devotional hush, the group's energy softening around Shaw's melodic line without losing its quiet intensity.