Levin has mainly made his mark over the course of thirty-plus years scoring for TV commercials, drama series and feature films, as well as extended stints in the Gil Evans Orchestra and Jimmy Giuffre's band. He's also the brother of bassist extraordinaire Tony Levin, and both have played together in, among other projects, a Spike Jones tribute band.

Even within the fairly narrow realm of organ trio jazz, Levin mixes things up enough to hold your interest. "I'm Falling" is a James Brown-styled blues number, while "When I Was Young" gently swings. Selections like "The Question For U" comes closer to the rock side, making this sound akin to the power-organ trio Niacin than to Jimmy Smith. "Where Flamingos Fly" is plaintive adaptation of a classic Gil Evans piece.

Covers include a nicely remade version of "Love For Sale" and Moacir Santos' "Nana." Jaco Pastorious' "Teen Town" is tackled, too, in one of the few versions not centered around a bass player.

Using a revolving cast of guitarists, most notably Joe Beck, each brings the right style to suit the song. Erik Lawrence, the son of former colleague Arnie Lawrence, expands the trio to a quartet for a couple of tracks.

All told, this is a consistently good effort, providing solid grooves that are edgy enough to avoid the "smooth jazz" tag, but contemporary enough to pull in listeners outside of the straight jazz crowd. Certified Organic became available on July 22.

Antonio Ciacca Quintet Rush Life
This CD is what the Director of Programming for jazz at the Lincoln Center has been doing in his spare time lately. German-born, Italian-raised pianist Antonio Ciacca has played with or studied under an exhausting list of jazz notables: Art Farmer, Lee Konitz, Dave Liebman, Steve Grossman, Kenny Barron, Wynton Marsalis, Benny Golson, Jaki Byard, Steve Lacy, etc., etc. After heading three releases with overseas labels, Ciacca is finally making his proper American debut with the domestic label Motema Music.

The music contained within this CD doesn't break any new ground for jazz, but it's an urbane blend of Oscar Peterson and Art Blakey, with a touch of Euro-jazz sensibilities thrown in. Antonio's five-piece band is filled out with Kengo Nakamura on bass, Rodney Green on drums, Stacy Dillard on tenor sax and Joe Magnerelli on trumpet.

The nine selections contain mostly Ciacca's advanced compositions supplemented by three covers. "The Great Squazin" lightly swings much in the same way Chick Corea's "Tones For Jone's Bones" does. "Chippewa" includes a lengthy middle section that borrows from "Cherokee." Magnerelli puts in a choice trumpet solo on the sophisticated bop of "Flat 5 Flat," and is highlighted even more on the old, forlorn standard "I Remember Clifford." Meanwhile, Dillard's tender tenor is featured on "Rush Life." Throughout it all, Ciacca's highly nuanced playing serves to uplift his unit, not upstage them.

The Rush Life CD is planned for a October 30 release, but is already available in digital form at Motema Records' website.

"Quickies" are mini-record reviews of new or upcoming releases, or "new to me." Some albums are just that much more fun to listen to than to write about.