NEW RELEASES : Young Trumpeter, Ageless Violinist

RYAN KISOR

“On the One”

Columbia

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This 20-year-old trumpeter’s debut release two years ago lacked personality and class--all the more surprising since he had won the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz competition the previous year. But this subsequent album happily shows that Kisor’s grown and that we’ve got a genuine jazz artist on our hands.

What doesn’t impress about this abundantly talented lad? Foremost, there’s his tone, fat and sizzling like a burger just tossed on the grill, recalling the immense sounds of such past masters as Kenny Dorham. With that tone, he dashes off imaginative lines that spin like twirlers here, dart like sparks there. And he has poise past his years, displaying that uncanny knowledge of what notes to leave out when.

This is hard-bop of the ‘90s, stuff that swings but with a wham to it, a bite that makes you straighten your back. Producer-arranger Bobby Watson helps bring the session off, as do the supporting crew: Chris Potter, Mark Turner and David Sanchez (saxes), Mulgrew Miller (piano), Christian McBride (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums).

Kisor stands tall on the medium tempo “The Distant Present,” a platform for his long, appealing phrases, and on “Thinking of You,” where his lyricism captivates. The saxes battle it out on “Remembering Tomorrow,” while McBride’s sumptuous bow work steals “Groovin’ .”

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).