First Days of Summer

Metheny’s influence comes most directly in Topping’s closing “First Days of Summer,” the other piece which has Mascari on tenor along with the other core sextet members. Topping captures the elation one feels after being released from school, or even closer for most of us, our pandemic stay-at-home state, with the breezy effects rendered by his EVI, Waddell’s flowing guitar lines, and Forman’s colorful touches.