The American critic Francis Davis astutely observed in the liner-notes to Wallace Roney's 2010 album, If Only For One Night, that the secret of the Miles Davis-mentored trumpeter's distinctiveness lay in “confronting (Miles’) massive influence whole”. Now on to his 22nd recording with Blue Dawn – Blue Nights, Roney continues to expertly embrace the late sorcerer's legacy all the way from 1950s trumpet-ballad poignancy to surefootedly register-vaulting free-bop. Like Miles, he also invites rising talents to stretch his resources – fiery young Lincoln Center Orchestra saxophonist Emilio Modeste and sophisticated Kansas piano newcomer Oscar Williams II are in this lineup, melodically propulsive drums legend Lenny White shares the percussion duties with the leader's gifted 15-year-old nephew Kojo Odu Roney, and all the pieces are the choices of the sidemen. This doesn't lead to quite the stylistic surprises it might – the Miles influence hovers over the whole band. Roney and Williams drift close to ‘Blue In Green’ on the tiptoeing ballad ‘Why Should There Be Stars?’, the ruggedly arrhythmic ‘Bookendz’ hints at Bitches Brew and Modeste's tenor and Williams’ piano creatively bow to Shorter and Hancock on Dave Liebman's ‘New Breed’ and Modeste's own ‘Elliptical’. But Wallace Roney has often devoted himself to shepherding a new jazz generation into the spotlight – and this powerful set does that with affecting panache, and immaculate execution too.