Bob DeVos, Shadow Box

Bob DeVos gets everything in gear for his fifth album as a leader. He put together some grooving originals and a couple by others you don't hear covered much (Wes's "Twisted Blues", Mel Torme's "Born to Be Blue") then gathered some hiply swinging cats and let the "tapes" roll.

Shadow Box (American Showplace 5922) is all that. Bob finds the right mix of heat and feel with Dan Kostelnik on the B-3 organ, Steve Johns on drums, and, for half the program, Ralph Bowen on tenor sax.

It's straight ahead hard bop today with the groove and the changes in mind. Bob solos excellently, fluidly, and very coherently with some fine strings of note-ing and groovy chords. Kostelnik counters him with some very classic bopping organ and lines that are not cribbed from Jimmy Smith records. Bowen swings and blows well. And Johns is the right drummer.

DeVos is a hell of a nice guitarist. Just listen to this and you'll hear it.