John Beasley - Surfacing

So Surfacing was an impulse grab from the bargain bin; I had never heard of John Beasley, but given that it was a trio outing with Rob Hurst on bass and Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, how bad could it be?

Ends up it is pretty good. Hurst is never bad, and in many ways was the Ron Carter of the Young Lions set when he first came to prominence. Thankfully, he no longer seems associated with that stifling setup and gets to pull open a ways. In the case of Colaiuta, it is good to hear him stretch out a bit, and not just doing pop-rock studio work or fusion noodling (of which he is great in both areas, but his versatility really does not get a chance to shine often, and this is one of those few cases where his straightahead jazz chops come to the fore).