As a rising star of the trombone on the New York scene, Steve Davis has made quite a name for himself in the bands of Chick Corea and the star-studded collective One For All. It is on his solo outings like POTRAIT IN SOUND, however, that listeners get the full picture of this remarkable musician. His muscular yet lyrical command of the trombone and his advanced compositional skills are all on full display here as he teams up with other New York heavies like Steve Nelson, David Hazeltine, Joe Farnsworth, and Brad Mehldau.
Davis composed the majority of the works on PORTRAIT, the exceptions being the chestnuts "I'm Old Fashioned", "Darn That Dream" and Corea's quirky "Shadows". Davis' title track opens with a hard bop groove that sets the tone with excellent work by the leader and vibist Nelson. Later, a change of gears with the soulful "The Slowdown" finds Davis and his men swinging nicely on a lazy backbeat and the silky Fender Rhodes of Hazeltine. However, it is the energetic drive of works like "Runway" and the closing "Samba D" that show why Davis is the favoured successor to the likes of Curtis Fuller and J.J. Johnson.
