Jazz reviews

       Nathan Eklund's Trip To The Casbah (Jazz Excursion 117; 60:01 3 stars) plays out as a tandem between trumpet/flugelhorn player Eklund, guitarist John Hart and (occasionally) tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin. "Passing Trains" features Hart and Eklund in uptempo swinging form, with bassist Bill Moring and drummer Tim Horner providing a solid rhythmic core to this group. There's lots of soloing all around in this all-Eklund program, with spots for immediate expression, as when Eklund duos with Moring on the lullaby-ish "Happiness Is..." along with his precise yet fluid playing on the jangly swinger "Big Bro's Backstop."

--John Ephland, Downbeat Magazine; June, 2009