Witt deserves wider recognition. With a Doctorate in jazz studies from the University of Houston Moores School of Music, the Omaha native has devoted significant time to educating budding artists as well as playing in such eclectic company as the Houston Symphony, Broadway touring shows, and jazz greats like James Moody, Joe Lovano, and Branford Marsalis. He also manages one of Houston’s jazz clubs, Cézanne. His self-titled debut recording featuring Houston-area musicians prompted Randy Brecker’s compliment, “Wonderful CD--great big sound with much depth, nice tunes, swingin’, everyone is killin’..”

Witt credits Honig’s initiative in bringing the band together, while it’s largely Witt’s compositional chops that give each of 8 tracks the space to soar and evolve. (Brecker contributes the ninth track, the soulful “Dirty Dogs.”) While post bop modernism permeates this music, the compositions nevertheless have a familiar, accessible, melodic framework. Witt reminds me a bit of Joe Lovano—a big mellow sound with elastic tone and color. In fact, all together this ensemble recalls Lovano’s mid-90s quartets with Tom Harrell while expressing its own musical persona.

The recording unfolds as a perfectly conceived set, moving back and forth from frenetic up-tempo fire (“Childlike,” “Under the Wire,” “Out of the Box”) to souful funkiness (“Dirty Dogs”) to balladic contemplations ( “Song Without Words,” “Much More to Say,” and “Taking Her Sweet Time”). Inspired by his daughters, Witt’s “Childlike” and “Taking Her Sweet Time” offer disparate musical musings of childhood. “Childlike” moves from a volatile vamp from Kikoski to an intricately constructed improvisation from Witt who climbs and tumbles only to rise again before passing the baton to Brecker, who truly matches “Witts” with the leader. The two horns make for an explosive front line over the strong pulse of Weidenmueller and Honig. Nearly on the opposite end of the spectrum, “Taking Her Sweet Time” is a slow-moving, blues-tinged ballad, the tenor presenting the melody with a touch of melancholy, yet filled with the wonder and enchantment of childhood. Kikoski’s wonderfully articulated phrases are supported by some laid-back clicking sequences Honig, and the two horns merge as dual personalities of a singular musical mind.

Three tracks showcase the ensemble’s lyrical bent. “Song Without Words” opens with Witt’s melodic circumspection. Hoenig shines in a subtle role, snapping the brushes and tingling the cymbals at key moments. Brecker’s unmuted, Milesian phrases transition seamlessly back and forth with Witt, but the show stopper is Kikoski, surely one of the unsung heroes of modern jazz piano. There may be no lyrics but these instrumentalists have plenty to say. “Much More to Say” is Witt’s tribute to the late James Williams, a musical elegy introduced by Brecker’s hymnal trumpet, deftly setting up Witt’s melodic testimonial. “Before the Rain” (mislabled on the CD cover as track 5—actually this is track 6) opens with an introspective, celestial entrance by Kikoski. On flugelhorn, Brecker goes off on a personal journey here, while both Honig and particularly Weidenmueller lay a subtle foundation for the horns. Witt jumps around the tenor’s range, adding brighter notes as he moves into a spiraling vamp. This longest (nearly 13 minutes) track closes with a nice flutter of horns and tinkling of keys.

But it is the high energy works that really showcase this quintet. On “Matching Game,” the horns start out in tandem before the tenor takes over. Starting at the bottom and working his way up, Witt’s agile climb-and-fall patterns gain intensity and speed, while Kikoski works around the melodic thread. With crystalline support from Honig and increasingly dramatic notes from Weidenmueller, the pianist picks up speed, the threesome forming a formidable trio. Honig’s soloing is not bombastic but rather a model display of more subtle attack strategies. “Under the Wire” is a tour de force for Woody Witt, whose singing in the lower register and squealing on the highs surges like an overloaded circuit. Honig drops little bombs and bursts, while Brecker adds a smoother edge over a counter pattern from the bassist. Brecker’s ”Dirty Dogs” (track 5, mislabeled as track 6) contributes the most swinging and funky attitude of the set. Witt drives his horn into its buzzing high zone, with a Garrett like funkiness that quickly rises and drops to a growl. Brecker joins with a pepper-spray splattering matched by spit-firing drums. Witt and Honig engage in a few rounds of volleying before the horns return to the head and march to the finish, engaging in some mildly dissonant harmonics.

Honig launches the closing track, “Out of the Box,” with some quirky polyrhythmic sequences, aided and abetted by Weidenmueller before the horns jump in. With scale-bending exercises from Brecker, bass and drums contribute a sense of urgency. Kikoski spins his improvisation along the keyboard track, meeting up with the horns for a final fury. It’s an explosive finale, and for the listener, merely a cue to reload and start again from track one. Each additional listen brings forth more detail, more delight.

Woody Witt will be on stage at the Dakota January 6-7 as part of the Later at the Dakota series . Friday night, Witt guests with the Jazz Is Now Nonet; on Saturday night, he joins up with long-time pal Kelly Rossum (See Jazz Police article here for details). Sets start at 11:30 pm (visit www.dakotacooks.com). For more information about Woody Witt and his recordings, visit his website at www.woodywitt.com

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