Like any smart up-and-comer in contemporary jazz circles, the amazingly nimble keyboardist
John Novello knows that to bring out the best in sax-driven melodies, you hire the best:
Eric Marienthal. The saxman's glowing contributions make
Too Cool live up to its name most of the time, while
Novello provides the silk, funk, and spicy improv a synth whiz should in order to leave a distinctive impression in the pop-jazz listener's ears. A few of the instrumentals make for some of the smoothest listening of that year, but the vocals by
Novello's wife
Gloria Rusch distract enormously from the instrumental joys of the disc.