Five Play...Plus (2005)

About this title: Despite a good first album, On the Brink, Five Play took their sweet time recording Five Play...Plus in 2004. The "Plus" indicates outside players on several tracks, but even without these players, Five Play remind one of a scaled-down big band. For those unfamiliar with the group, it's interesting to note that unlike 99 percent of the active jazz units playing today, the band is all female, a fact that's even more unusual when one notes that none of them sing. Fronted by drummer Sherrie Maricle, Five Play consist of two saxophonists, tenor Anat Cohen and alto Karolina Strassmayer, a pianist, ...

Tracks:

1. Theme from Mr. Broadway [Brubeck]
2. That Old Feeling [Brown/Fain]
3. Funk in a Deep Freeze [Mobley]
4. Crazy, He Calls Me [Russell/Sigman]
5. If I Only Had a Brain [Harburg/Arlen]
6. Polka Dots and Moonbeams [Burke/VanHeusen]
7. Pure Imagination [Newley/Bricusse]
8. Bud Powell [Corea]
9. In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning [Hilliard/Mann]
10. On the Good Ship Lollipop [Clare/Whiting]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.