Rob Ickes, What It Is - 56m 45s

Tracks & Durations

1. Mr. Goodbar	3:54
2. Scheerhorn Shuffle	5:24
3. Self Portrait	5:59
4. Standford and Son	4:52
5. I'll Take Les	6:00
6. Killeen	7:21
7. Juke Joint	5:30
8. Blues For Sammy	3:27
9. When We Were Leaving	4:45
10. Union Pacific	5:33
11. 50 Years Ago	3:53

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Review

This third release from the Blue Highway Dobro player doesn't just dip into jazz--it makes a bracing, headlong plunge. Fronting an ensemble of sax, keyboards, bass, and drums, Ickes slides from smooth jazz ballads to pulsing rumbas to funky '70s fusion--"Stanford and Son" playfully alludes to the Redd Foxx TV series--to modal Kind of Blue-style improvisations. His timing is exquisite and his command of the subtler voicings of the resophonic guitar keeps the session from dissolving into jam grass. The album began as a suite of originals, but eventually came to include a few obscure covers, such as John Scofield's "I'll Take Les," which lets Ickes duke it out with wailing saxophonist Paul Hanson, and Mike Manieri's "Self Portrait," a tune intricate enough to head off the light-jazz turn. Bluegrass fans may have momentarily lost a favorite son, but fans of contemporary jazz might just have a new star. --Roy Kasten

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