Bob a Palindrome

For his sixth album, first-call bassist Robert Hurst assembled several impressive players. At the core of this are players heard on his debut, Robert Hurst Presents: mentor Marcus Belgrave (trumpet/flugelhorn), onetime boss Branford Marsalis (tenor/soprano saxophone), and longtime rhythm section mate Jeff “Tain” Watts (drums). Robert Glasper (piano/Rhodes) had just started playing in Hurst’s trio at the time of this October 2001 session, which also features Adam Rudolph (percussion) and Bennie Maupin (multiple woodwinds). Hurst demonstrates his considerable compositional prowess on the album’s 10 pieces, including the evocative, three-part “Middle Passage Suite,” at nearly 22 minutes. The soaring “3 for Lawrence” features a searching arco solo by Hurst, and it’s fascinating to hear latter-day superstar bandleader Glasper’s empathetic comping on “Big Queen.”