Curtis Fuller – Down Home (2012)

Sounding something like the classic Blue Note recordings of trombonist Curtis Fuller’s youth, Down Home has a joy that’s contagious.

Fuller has grown by leaps and bounds since making his famous intro in the opening bars of Coltrane’s sole date for Blue Note, building upon the fiery intellect of that album’s “Locomotion” and largely shedding his early, more overt J.J. Johnson influences. By turns bluesy and then fleet and fun here, Fuller belies his own third-act vintage, offering a feisty performance that matches his own already fully realized ambitions as a writer. “Ladies Night” and the title track would have fit on any album in the classic era of post-bop.