Gregory Jr. Quintet - Old Knew

Old Knew is Gregory Groover, Jr's follow-up to his 2024 Criss Cross debut, Lovabye, on which - in the exalted company of Joel Ross, Aaron Parks, Vicente Archer and Marcus Gilmore - he projected his soulful, reflective tenor saxophone voice throughout an 11-track recital of, as Groover puts it, original "love songs and songs of people I love." On Old Knew, Groover, 32, addresses similarly inspired repertoire from a different angle, eliciting collective kineticism and creative spirit from a pan-generational A-list quintet, comprising Ross, the nonpareil 30-year-old vibraphonist; Paul Cornish, the 20-something pianist; and the glorious drummer Kendrick Scott and bass provocateur Harish Raghavan, both 40-something. Total CD time: 53:49 min