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CECILIA COLEMAN QUINTET
“Young and Foolish”
Resurgent Music
* * 1/2
Cecilia Coleman is a competent pianist with a highly individual voice: quiet, sincere and to-the-point. Her understated improvisational style, at once shyly romantic and revealingly sensitive, is accented by an equally spare mode of accompaniment. Her sidemen on this eight-cut disc do little to vary the reserved mood, working in emotional tones best described as well-adjusted rather than frantic.
The group, especially trumpeter Steve Huffsteter, shows refined be-bop tastes on “House of Cards,” and tenor saxophonist Andy Suzuki generates a bit of steam during the title tune. But there’s a certain blandness to the program as the quintet sails along on an even keel with nary a stormy moment.
Coleman, the composer is equally reserved (six of the tunes are hers), with “Slippin’ ” standing out for its melodic pleasantness. But someone should give Coleman a good pinch. “Young and Foolish” shows too much cool, and not enough heat.
Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good, recommended), four stars (excellent).
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