(Post-Bop) Grant Stewart - Shadow of Your Smile - 2007 (Japan Edition), MP3, 320 kbps

Tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart, born in Toronto, Canada, in 1971, has been living and playing in New York for 17 years. Along with Eric Alexander, with whom he recently formed a group called Reeds and Deeds, he has become one of the more powerful voices on the jazz scene today. His tone is muscular, and his style is straight-ahead and melodic. Perhaps more inward-looking than the ever-so-extrovert-and-powerful Alexander, his solos draw you in instead of blowing you away.
This 2007 recording is the inaugural release of Birds Records, a new labed founded by experienced producer Shigeyuki Kawashima. With gratitude and friendship, Stewart wrote an original blues for him called "Kawa Power." The band members, who are all given ample solo spaces to show their talents, are all first rate. This is a thoroughly enjoyable, straight-as-it-can-be bebop album. No gimmicks!