Anant Pradhan & Larry McDonald - The Thief Who Came To Dinner

♫ > A1. The Thief Who Came To Dinner
♫ > B1. Earl

Anant Pradhan and Larry McDonald return to Names You Can Trust with a direct follow-up to their 2022 debut’s deeply inspired Jamaican golden-era arrangements of two cinema soundtrack staples. Once again following the direction of master composer Henry Mancini, bandleader Anant Pradhan draws from Mancini’s rare-groove blueprint of the 1973 cheeky caper film, The Thief Who Came To Dinner. Meticulously reconfigured into a funky “flyers” style that wouldn’t be out of place in any of JA’s one-stop shops of the film’s era, this new rendition is a testament to the band’s studio talent, the proverbial chess pieces and players behind the scenes that contribute to the music’s moxie. That’s precisely what has become the expectation for Anant and Larry’s all-star ensembles, whether live or in the studio. With Larry now into the seventh full decade of his illustrious music career, and the duo themselves as fortified members of the legendary Skatalites touring group, these recordings also highlight several more within New York’s own respected reggae ecosystem, including new additions Preet Patel and Rich Terrana (The Frightnrs), seasoned session trombonist Clark Gayton as well as band veterans Matt Burdi and Michael Sarason (The Far East), Brett Tubin (Channel Tubes), Billy Aukstik on trumpet and Steve Capeccia on bass, plus studio contributions from Victor Axelrod (Ticklah). Together, the collective has managed to capture something timeless about the cinematic shades of instrumental reggae. As “Thief” draws a direct line from the celluloid ’70s, B-side “Earl” evolves from improvised studio magic to the soundtrack of a yet-to-be-conceived vintage picture show. A breezy, bubbly reggae that will instantly place you in a dreamland of white sand beaches and royal palm trees, “Earl” pays tribute to the late great Jamaican pianist Earl Appleton, and sees Anant moving effortlessly from saxophone to piano, from interpreter to prototype. It’s an authentic addition to the genre’s timeless canon, and hopefully the shape of things to come from the talented musician, musical director and his collaborative crew.