Don't feel badly if you don't know of Devere Pride as he is still on his way toward becoming a household name in jazz. A native of Cleveland, Pride made Huntsville, Alabama his home and plays with the Huntsville Symphony. In recent years, the bassist appeared on a session led by Don Bowyer as a fundraiser for the Jazz Program at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. That CD titled Future Standards is still available from the UAH website.

Pride is often the bassist of choice when visitors play the city. He's shared the stage with Randy Weston, Delfeayo Marsalis, Victor Goines, Marvin Hamlisch and the late Steve Allen.

French-born pianist Jean-Yves Jung is self-taught and only decided to enter music after earning a masters degree in physics about thirteen years ago. Frankly, it was a great decision as Jung is a truly exciting mainstream jazzman. He has toured with Billy Cobham's "Higher Ground" and played with Philip Catherine, Howard Alden and the Paris Big Band.

Drummer Steve Ellington is already known to many fans through his recordings with pianist Hal Galper and the late Rashaan Roland Kirk. He also worked with Michel Petrucianni, Sam Rivers, Johnny Griffin, James Moody, Chet Baker and a host of other big names. Ellington is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and is a highly polished jazz talent.

The Devere Pride Trio swings like there was no tomorrow. The material ranges from an original generic blues through American standards to great pieces by Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Kenny Wheeler. In this writer's opinion, the showpiece is a 12-minute version of the 1932 show tune Alone Together. Tenor-man, Sam Williams joins the trio for this memorable rendition where everyone contributes equally. It's great! The entire album shines with brilliant and passionate playing. There are no superstars on this CD and it isn't ground-breaking. This is simply three similarly talented musicians spreading joy.

You can grab some sound samples via the CD Baby link below. Good stuff!