Wallace Roney: Just My Imagination

Jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney is one of those musicians that has never received the recognition he deserves. This is partly due to his rather humourless personality and the fact that he played -- and continues to play -- deep in the shadow of his mentor Miles Davis.

This is truly unfortunate as Roney is not only a great musician, but he has put out some stellar recordings over the past five or six years, including No Room for Argument (2000) and Prototype (2004). He is also playing with a great band these days that includes Gerri Allen on piano.

Earlier this week, I heard Roney being interviewed on NPR. He has just released a new album (ok, it's a CD) called Mystikal on High Note records. I haven't heard the entire album yet, but the one track that was featured on NPR simply blew me away. Roney has orchestrated a cover version of The Temptations hit song, "Just My Imagination" that stays true to the melody but hides it within layers of beautifully improvised and gently swinging jazz. It's a real gem. Take a listen to a sample of it here.