Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas

• DIGIPACK EDITION

• 4 1/2 STARS DOWNBEAT

Wayne Shorter continues to glimmer as the lodestar for Sound Prints, a superb combo that excels at trumpeting its honoree’s expansive artistry without losing its own identity.

That’s largely because the copilots of Sound Prints — saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas — have already cultivated their own respective voices, in terms of improvisation and composing. Bassist Linda May Han Oh, pianist Lawrence Fields and drummer Joey Baron bring the idiomatic knowledge and the improvisational wit required to interact with Lovano and Douglas and make the music leap off the sheet.

Unlike Sound Prints’ previous two albums, the new recording showcases all originals. Still, Shorter’s musical DNA is noticeable throughout, especially in the album’s stargazing theme, in its philosophical undertow and in the mutable dialogue and spatial awareness conveyed by the quintet.

PERSONNEL:

• Joe Lovano - saxophone
• Dave Douglas - trumpet
• Linda May Han Oh - bass
• Lawrence Fields - piano
• Joey Baron - drums

TRACKS:

• 01. Space Exploration
• 02. Shooting Stars
• 03. Life On Earth
• 04. Manitou
• 05. Antiquity To Outer Space
• 06. The Flight
• 07. The Transcendentalists
• 08. Sky Miles
• 09. Pythagoras
• 10. Midnight March