Rare Connection

by Scott YanowLos Angeles-based keyboardist Bill Cunliffe is in excellent form on his Discovery CD, performing two standards, Wayne Shorter's "Miyako," and seven of his originals. Cunliffe utilizes some of L.A.'s top players (Bob Sheppard on tenor and bass clarinet, trumpeter Clay Jenkins, trombonist Bruce Paulson, bassist Dave Carpenter, drummer Peter Erskine, and percussionist Kurt Rasmussen) for a set of modern mainstream jazz that is straight-ahead but not without some surprising twists and turns. "Jamaican Lounge Lizards," which Cunliffe describes as going "from having a Jamaican reggae feel to a barroom brawl," is a highlight of this enjoyable disc.