That the Days Go by and Never Come Again starts off sounding like a drummer’s album. As “L’heure Bleue” bleeds into “Indigo Mist”, drummer Ted Poor is on the professional “roll” of a lifetime. But as percussion-drive as Indigo Mist is on their debut that also doubles as a tribute to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, the group is all about the meeting of the minds of trumpeter Cuong Vu and pianist Richard Karpen. Together with Poor, bassist Luke Berman and four different individuals credited as “Live Electronics iPad Performers”, Vu and Karpen can conjure a sound that can be both ghostly and raucous. How do they pull this off? My best guess is through a combination of control and reverence. This hypothetical method turns “In a Sentimental Mood” into something that could pass for “In a Solitary Mood” and “Mood Indigo” into “What the Hell is Going On?”
Recommended for those who want to hear some jazz that sinks slowly.