by Alex Henderson
Trumpet After Dark is subtitled &Jazz in a Meditative Mood,& and that is an accurate description of this 2005 release; Randy Sandke does, in fact, favor a meditative, reflective, contemplative mood this time. And the people who help him achieve that include not only his jazz quartet -- Sandke on trumpet, Bill Charlap on piano, Greg Cohen on bass, and Dennis Mackrel on drums -- but also, the New York City-based string quartet Parthenia. All four of Parthenia's members (Lisa Terry, Beverly Au, Rosamund Morley, and Lawrence Lipnik) play some type of viol, a string instrument that was prominent in European classical and folk in the 16th and 17th centuries but has since taken a back seat to the violin. The viol, also known as the viola da gamba (which means &viola of the leg& in Italian), hasn't exactly been ubiquitous in jazz, but it's an instrument that serves Sandke pleasingly well on this acoustic, classical-influenced post-bop date. Trumpet After Dark doesn't have the sort of lushness that Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Clifford Brown, Wes Montgomery, and others favored on their famous &jazz with strings& sessions back in the 20th century; regardless, Sandke's playing is quite lyrical and melodic on a diverse program that ranges from Sandke originals to Fryderyk Chopin's &Etude in E& to jazz warhorses like Billy Strayhorn's &Lush Life& and Mal Waldron's &Soul Eyes.& A very flexible player, Sandke can -- depending on his mood -- be anything from cerebral and abstract (or even mildly avant-garde) to romantic, accessible, and melodic. And his more accessible side definitely prevails on the enjoyable Trumpet After Dark, which makes one hope that Sandke will have other encounters with Parthenia in the future.