" data-original-title="" title="">Jared Hall has for years straddled that fine line between those two worlds. As a musician, he has sought the wisdom of his heroes, and learned the fine art of being a bandleader by unabashedly hiring top musicians to tour and record with. In the process, he has assimilated the wisdom of those intelligent hires, and applied them to create his own very personal sound. But he has been the perfect reflection of those experiences as Director of Jazz Studies at Whitworth University in his hometown of Spokane, Washington, returning the favor and pushing the tradition just a wee bit further into the future. But no matter what side of the fence he falls on, or we fall on for that matter, receiving the music as a listener defines the direction an individual takes in learning the music and developing a genuine love for it. On Influences (Origin, 2024), Hall offers compositions written with the personal styles of his trumpet heroes in mind, most of them casual influences collected from recordings and live performances attended. There is no need to roll one's eyes at this point, fearing yet another tribute project to bear. For whatever the inspiration for the music presented on the album, the tunes are sound, the playing first rate and the band a perfect match. It is about an artist recognizing certain traits of his playing inspired by mentors and masters alike.

While Hall pays homage to artists from