Album Notes

Drummer Jeff Donavan and bassist Larry Muradian came together years ago, forming a quintet called the Nairobi Trio. They began a still-running Sunday residency at Busters in South Pasadena. Curtis Brengle settled in on piano. There was a great album (“Straight Ahead”…look for it). They changed their name to the Donavan-Muradian Quintet (DMQ). They gigged steadily around Pasadena, and released the fine “Pacifico”, with saxophonist Chuck Manning and trumpeter Kye Palmer settling in. Time came to document DMQ’s sound as Pasadena jazz fans had been hearing it, live. Café 322, a new nitespot in nearby Sierra Madre, proved ideal. It’s a great jazz room, with a good crowd and good pasta. You’re listening to the date. Keep moving, keep swinging. Put this album on and just try and sit still. When DMQ get in the hard bop groove it’s like driving on a wide open Pasadena Freeway. This album sounds so good you pass right by your exit, by all the exits. You want to keep on driving. Straight ahead. Brick Wahal (LA Weekly)