Over the Ocean

Remarkable particularly for the performances of extraordinary pianist Danilo Rea and Italy's best kept secret, trumpeter Flavio Boltro, this recording of highly varied tunes by Italian bassist Giovanni Tommaso plays well in the company of an extraordinary quintet. The music is smack-dab in the middle of adventurous modern mainstream. In other words, it doesn't break any new ground but it pushes up against traditional boundaries. The solid front line of Boltro and saxophonist Pietro Tonolo wails over one of the world's great rhythm sections: drummer Roberto Gatto, Tommaso, and Rea. Rea does it all, with a superhuman two-handed approach. Boltro is one of the sharpest hard boppers around, able to play almost anything on his trumpet. The closer, a strange operatic tribute to Billie Holiday sung by Italian vocalist Carla Marcotulli, comes right out of left field.