Rubisa Patrol

Pianist Art Lande struck gold with Rubisa Patrol, which also names his band with Mark Isham (very much in a Kenny Wheeler mode) on horns and soprano sax, Bill Douglass on bass and flutes, and Glenn Cronkhite on drums and percussion. This being the first of two albums for ECM, it is both a product of its time (1976) and a giant leap therefrom. The strength here is the musicians’ recrafting of traditional source material (“Bulgarian Folk Tune” and “Corinthian Melodies”) and modern groove (“For Nancy”). Despite the name on the marquis, the bold and beautiful Isham is the star.