Tom Rainey's Obbligato

A creatively combustible drummer who's been heard to great advantage alongside leaders such as Fred Hersch and Tim Berne, Tom Rainey takes the wheel with a promising band—heard on a playful, probing new disc, Obbligato—devoted to what he calls "the redistribution of melody and improvisation on the standard song form." Joining the cause are saxist Ingrid Laubrock, trumpeter Ralph Alessi, pianist Kris Davis and bassist Drew Gress.