As Jaymz Bee of Jazz FM had promised us in his introduction, the material featured was from Little's recent CD, Snapshot, which is up for consideration as Album of the Year in the 2005 National Jazz Awards. For most listeners, it was also an introduction to Russ Little’s work as a leader, following many years as a noted trombone sideman in definitive big bands ranging from the swing to rock eras.

Russ and Phil stretched out on Freddie Hubbard's "Up Jumped Spring" and other tunes to great effect but we saw a confident leader's generosity and respect for his band members according solo time amongst some of Canada's finest. This is music anchored in tradition and craft but not constrained by it. We had some risk taking on solos but with a professional polish. Such spontaneous harmonic and rhythmic interplay from such seasoned musicians can make it look rehearsed.

An especially poignant and wonderfully crafted moment came with Russ' solo in "How Are Things In Glocca Morra?" that transitioned seamlessly via trombone/bass duo into Frank Loesser's "Slow Boat to China". This is an improbable pairing that just worked.

A flood of fine tunes followed, shaped and balanced between a bossa nova treatment of "Boy Next Door" to Horace Silver's hauntingly beautiful ballad "Peace" and back to the energy of Duke Ellington's "Cottontail". With Russ injecting the Calypso-inspired "Little Prince" he wrote for his son, we had a display of some finely honed versatility from the rhythm section. Brian Barlow's 8-bar trades on "Groovin' High" had him dipping into the full sonority of the drum kit including a quick and effective hand drumming interjection on open snare and toms. Alexander contributed some tasty bass exchanges and Schwager's guitar solo shone in "Cottontail". Tom Szczesniak was in his element with tastefully placed chromatic runs, blues motifs and block chord passages on Dizzy Gillespie's rarely heard "Ow!".

Concerts in this CBC setting usually get the full audio treatment, miked and amplified for an on-air performance and therefore balanced for the hall. This evening showed us the natural and unassisted hall acoustics from the Glen Gould Studio and they are surprisingly mushy. Some of the crispness of the arrangements and tight support were masked by the wash of sound. Some further guidance from the Studio technicians might be in order to get the placements and baffles improved and give full benefit to the musicians’ efforts to provide balance and manage the dynamics. A microphone for the leader and for the horns to let us share in the more subdued passages is a must in this hall with its capacity to eat sound and smudge the low register.