On these two late May evenings at Smalls, LCJO trumpeter Ryan Kisor took in a five-piece group of mainly Wynton Marsalis-associated musicians. Still only in his thirties, Kisor is already a young veteran, considering that he made two albums (for Columbia) before he'd even reached 21, though lately he's been a regular on Criss Cross. He has a personal sound, plays with much punch and energy and, as a leader, chopses excellent material to blow on. The two best examples of this are Jay Jay Johnson's moving composition, ‘Enigma’ (which originated on one of the trombonist's 10” LPs for Blue Note) and Gillespie's poignant minor-key ‘Con Alma’, one of Dizzy's very best, which is also a challenge to those who take it on. Kisor's front-line partner is an excellent altoist who was with one of Roy Hargrove's earlier Quintets and who became one of the first jazzmen to put out product on their own label after a long-forgotten Blue Note date called Big Mama's Biscuits! Very much a Charlie Parker-influenced player, he makes the most of his opportunities here to really stretch out, coming up with logically constructed solos, always conscious of melody. The only disappointment, maybe, is the closing, relatively uneventful blues.