After more than 13 years together as a working sextet, you can immediately sense their remarkable chemistry, both on and off the bandstand. You can hear it in their crisp ensemble playing and warm, inviting harmony lines executed with flawless precision by tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trombonist Steve Davis and trumpeter Jim Rotondi. You can feel it in the near telepathic connection between rhythm section mates David Hazeltine on piano, John Webber on bass, and the creative timekeeper Joe Farnsworth on drums. This kind of bond can only be developed over time, and for the members of One For All, it keeps getting better.

The One For All sound is forged in the quintessential ‘50s-‘60s Blue Note vibe, perhaps best exemplified by classic Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers recordings. The timeless Horace Silver quintet is another obvious reference point.

That definitive soul-jazz quality can be heard on the jaunty opener, Rotondi’s “Back to Back” (bearing a resemblance to Silver’s “Senor Blues” with its Latin flavored intro) and also on Hazeltine’s “Blues for Jose,” a slow, earthy meditation that inspires the individual soloists to dig deep.

The group maintains a subtle Latin flavor on Hazeltine’s “Petite Ange,” which is underscored by Webber’s tumbao feel on bass, with Farnsworth slyly dropping in a Chico Hamilton “Conquistadores” beat.
Their hip, tempo-shifting, reharmonized arrangement of “Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered” shows the collective ingenuity of this smart outfit. Davis’ infectious shuffle “So Soon” is quintessential Jazz Messengers (a la “Blues March”) while Rotondi’s poignant ballad, “Voice,” is a touching, somber tribute to Freddie Hubbard (performed on flugelhorn). Alexander’s invigorating title track sails through a myriad of chord changes, in the same fashion of Trane’s “Giant Steps.”

Davis’ modal closure “Spirit Talk” erupts into a powerful swinging waltz that taps into some intense latter-day Trane energy (a la “My Favorite Things”). Hazeltine channels his inner McCoy while comping furiously behind Alexander’s harmonically probing solo. Farnsworth puts a capper on this exhilarating session with a facile solo.

“When we play together there’s a lot of fire on the bandstand and everybody loves the music to be swinging hard,” says trombonist Davis. “That’s not necessarily the norm these days, but it’s a style we all feel great playing in. I never feel restricted when playing in One For All. Just challenged and inspired.”

That kind of inspiration oozes throughout Incorrigible. –- Bill Milkowski