Neville jazz

Saxophonist Charles Neville and his brothers may not be jazz musicians per se, but they’re from New Orleans and you’ve got to figure there will be jazz in their music, which there generally is. In the case of "Charles Neville & Diversity," LaserLight, a disk I picked up not long ago, the jazz is front and center.

"Diverse," for instance, is straight out of the Hot Club de France with violinist David Kempers as Stephane Grappelli, Eric Struthers as Django Reinhardt, with a touch of Grant Green, and the addition of Neville's saxophone. Although the last thing I need is another version of "Summertime," the soprano sax version Neville lays down is different at least, higher pitched naturally, but I hear some Neville Brothers' touches in it as well. The group puts soul in "God Bless the Child," while "Nyomba" is good hard bop followed by "Moose the Mooche," which as you might expect comes out as good bop, the violin giving it an unusual texture. Likewise a breezy rendition of "The Jitterbug Waltz" with Rachel Van Vjorhees and her harp leading the way. Diverse this CD is and, as with diversity in general, I think that's a good thing.