SEARCHIN’ FOR THE TRUTH Sebastian whittaker and The Creators

Before there was music in my life, I was a star-struck baseball fan. As a youngster I marveled at Orlando Cepeda, whom the San Francisco Giants and their fans dubbed the “Baby Bull.” As fate would have it, Orlando is a huge Jazz fan. And for absolutely no reason on earth that I can think of, Sebastian Whittaker reminds me of the “Baby Bull.”

Like Art Blakey or Buddy Rich, he exhibits a powerful swing that lets the listener know that indeed he’s a leader who plays with the conscious and maybe unconscious power of a bull. One of this year’s swingingest releases, Whittaker takes the sophomore jinx and drop kicks it to the stars. Like the Harper Brothers’ Remembrance, Searchin’ For The Truth was recorded live, and therefore maintains that rare chemical balance of spontaneous combustion and an ambient room sound. Lots of sparks fly as band members James Lakey on trombone, Stefan Karlsson on piano and Jesse Davis on alto contribute both solo and composition power. “Bastian’s Bounce” has a big band fever, but go directly to Whittaker’s title track for the real “truth.”