Roni Ben-Hur
Keepin' It Open
(Motema ***1/2)
Guitarist Roni Ben-Hur has released an impeccable-sounding CD.
An Israeli who emigrated to New York in 1985, Ben-Hur broke in with pianists Barry Harris and Chris Anderson and bassist Walter Booker Jr.
Here on his fifth release as a front man, Ben-Hur takes an expansive view of standards, going from Thelonious Monk's "Think of One" to the delicate Sephardic melody "Eshkolit."
Working with bassist Santi Debriano, drummer Lewis Nash, and percussionist Steve Kroon, Ben-Hur gets all gorgeous-sounding on Dori Caymmi's "Like A Lover." He waxes boppish on his own "My Man, Harris," and on Elmo Hope's "One Second Please."
And there's a stylish lilt to Spanish composer Enrique Granados' "Andaluza."
The collection, recorded with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and pianist Ronnie Mathews, ends with Brazilian composer Djalma Ferreira's fiery "Recado Bossa Nova." – K.S.