Dominick Farinacci, “Lovers, Tales & Dances”

Koch Records (KOC-CD-4597)

The time after midnight has always been one of my favorite times for jazz. Those reflective hours in quiet places, wandering the mind’s shadowed side streets filled with missed opportunities and nurtured hopes. Sheltered doorways that could open into unexpected lives with new chances for intuition to blossom.

Velvet trumpet and flugelhorn player Dominick Farinacci knows these places, too. He loves them with a poet’s sense of sound. Improvising melodies full of graceful curves that circle and entwine the beat, he moves on rubato rhythms of irresistible encouragement.

You follow him because there’s no choice. On this, his debut CD, sometimes he has a sweeping string accompaniment, occasionally a vocalist. Most often he’s calling out from the encouraging confines of a sensitive rhythm section led by pianist Kenny Barron and drummer Lewis Nash.

The 12-song list has a European flavor with selections by Astor Piazzolla (“Libertango”), Giacomo Puccini (“E Lucevan Le Stelle”) and Jacques Brel (“Ne Me Quitte Pas”), lightened by Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman,” Ivan Lins’ “Love Dance” and a full-blown orchestration of Quincy Jones’ composing in “The Theme from The Pawnbroker.”

Farinacci contributed a pair of thoughtful ballads, “Vision” and “Silent Cry” (co-written with Steve Enos). All the tracks have their up-tempo moments, sparkles of speed that shift the mood for a bit.

What we remember most, though, is the promise of something lurking underneath those minor chords. While there are many shades of beauty, Farinacci is drawn to the more mysterious ones. Sunny smiles are nice, but those tempting smiles are better -- more like diving into Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates, never knowing exactly what you’ll get.

To hear some samples and get a copy, www.dominickfarinacci.com