BRUCE GERTZ QUINTET, Octopus Dreams

Here’s a fascinating historical “fun fact” for attentive listeners as they breeze through the swingin’ coolness of and high-spirited bass, trumpet and tenor sax solos on “Power Walk,” the infectious opening track on Octopus Dreams by the latest iteration of the Bruce Gertz Quintet.

The veteran bassist and bandleader – also a professor of bass at Berklee College of Music since the mid 70s – used a chord structure based on Sonny Rollins’ classic 1954 composition “Doxy” – which the sax legend based on the changes from the popular (and oft-interpreted) 1918 song “Ja-Da.”

The perfectly titled song is the perfect opener for the eclectic seven track set, which is as much a showcase for Gertz’s compositional artistry as for the continuously colorful and inventive soloing by him, tenor saxophonist Rick DiMuzio, trumpeter and flugelhornist Phil Grenadier and pianist Gison Schacknick, who work their adventurous magic over Gary Feldman’s tastefully hypnotic and often bustling drums.

Beyond the exciting improvisations, there are grand moments of transcendent horn harmonies (before the solo action) by DiMuzio and Grenadier on several tracks, including the lyrical and soulful “Redacted,” the zippy and whimsical “I’m Busy” and the seductive, thematically appropriate mid-tempo ballad “Sea Worthy.”