Nirav Sanghani and the Pacific Six

Nirav Sanghani pulled in an all-star crew for his first release with his Pacific Six. Clint Baker is on trombone for the opening track and is listed as a co-producer of the album. His son Riley Baker is on drums. Jen Hodge is in from Vancouver on bass, Jacob Zimmerman, on tenor sax and clarinet, is in from Seattle. Closer to Sanghani's San Francisco base, Justin Au has made his way from Sacramento (though he seems to live everywhere at once), to join the band on trumpet. That these fine musicians answered the call is a testament to their respect for Sanghani, who leads with guitar, and the fine music he intends to make. The Pacific Six have been playing the weekly and monthly swing dances around San Francisco for about two years. Recently they have started playing at the larger dance exchanges in the area. Sanghani himself is a long time swing dancer with a natural feel for the music. When they play out they perform transcriptions of recordings from Benny Goodman, Johnny Hodges, and Coleman Hawkins.  For this self-titled album, they focus on small group swing material including five Sanghani originals. There is a whispery feel to the album. The dancers will be pleased, as they must be at the band's weekly gigs, but so would the chairwarmers at a traditional jazz festival. With some of the most artistically vigorous performers in early jazz on board, you can't go wrong. Au contin