Karl Denson Trio

Clearly, saxophonist Karl Denson is a guy with a serious work ethic. He just wrapped up a tour with the reunited Greyboy Allstars (a trek that included a St. Louis stop a few weeks ago), and is in the process of putting together a new recording with his band Tiny Universe. But in the meantime, Denson is back playing gigs with his Trio, a stripped-down unit of keyboard, drums and sax that owes as much to the venerable tradition of jazz organ groups as to the contemporary jam-band milieu of the Allstars. Anthony Smith provides all the bass lines, chords and textures on the keys, while drummer Brett Sanders keeps it funky underneath Denson's taut, spiraling lines and blues-inflected riffing on alto and tenor saxes.