Ascending bassist Alexander Claffy takes an all-encompassing approach to jazz standards, befitting that famous maxim by Dizzy Gillespie: “As a musician, you have to have to keep one foot back in the past and have one foot forward into the future.” The young bassist clearly has an ear for timeless melodies — regardless of genre or era — and he engages with them with originality and unbridled creativity on his sophomore album, Standards: What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? (SMK Jazz) Composers covered on this disc range from Cole Porter and Michel Legrand to McCoy Tyner and Wayne Shorter. Claffy, a gifted arranger, treats these compositions with the reverence they deserve, yet remains keenly aware of the musical possibilities they inspire. - JAZZIZ