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I find it hard to curb my enthusiasm regarding Around the World With U.

When I think of American jazz drummer and educator Ulysses Owens Jr I immediately think of the sound in my head of Christian McBride.

McBride isn’t here. Instead Owens, who is is a member of the faculty at the Juilliard School in New York and is an alumnus of this elite institution in the Big Apple, leads his own band Generation Y. The 43 year old was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He grew up playing drums in the Black Pentecostal church.

Generation Y, his band at work here, at its core is a five piece.The primary line-up includes alto saxophonist Erena Terakubo who is quite Cannonball Adderley-like and trumpeter Anthony Hervey more of whom later. Tyler Bullock performs on the piano and Yasushi Nakamura plays the double bass. Nanami Haruta features as a guest trombonist on two tracks.

The music follows the hard-bop tradition established by Art Blakey. That’s best exemplified by the treatment of Cedar Walton piece ‘I’m Not So Sure’ the opener of Bu’s 1973 Prestige album Anthenagin. Roy Hargrove (1969-2018) in more recent years covered the piece on 2008’s Earfood.

Around the World With U was laid down in a studio in New Jersey. Numbers includes Owens originals ‘Prodigal Son’ and ‘Little Girl Power’. There’s a strong bebop heart to the album with a medley of works by Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. The title apparently refers to the group’s experience performing on international tours.

I liked Owens’ thunderous rolls at the beginning of Donald Brown’s ‘New York’. And the nod to Mulgrew Miller on ‘The Light That Grew Among Us’ also resonates.

Back in the day I liked Spike Lee’s 1990 movie Mo’ Better Blues a whole bunch. And the contagiously compelling downhome Terence Blanchard and Branford Marsalis piece of the same name is neatly covered, a wriggle of chunky bass riffery thumping out anchors the sound in this Gen Y treatment.

Better though is the trumpet feature on ‘Stardust’ by Anthony Hervey. The sort of wah wah weeping quality to the sound he conjures is very distinctive and knocks everything on the album into a cocked hat. Not at all hokey is this bit of Hoagy. Surely if jazz DJs are not asleep at the wheel or distracted by playing nu jazz tat too much they will be playing this and other album tracks like all the time. It’s a stop the car, pull over to a lay-by and switch off the engine listen to be sure.