Tony Davis / Golden Year

Every piece of art that functions as both a creative artistic message and a crafty stylistic statement should also ideally convey an artist's unique point of view to his audience. Guitarist Tony Davis clearly succeeds in doing just that with "Golden Year," his debut album. Supporting him on this hard hitting session are a solid rhythm section comprised of several old friends: pianist David Bryant, bassist Dezron Douglas, and powerhouse drummer Eric McPherson. With a nice combination of creative compositions and clever adaptations, "Golden Year" is insightfully straight ahead, steadily swinging, and refreshingly melodic enough to provide a wide assortment of bright moments to discerning jazz fans everywhere.