Continuing in the vein of his 1998 CD, Velvet, is the thickly blues-based and more self-assured Hip Sway. Beautifully invoking a sense of old-school jazz sensibilities, Hip Sway mixes acid-jazz ambience and the powerful soul touches of coproducer Rodney Lee. The title track finds Standring echoing his muted Wes Montgomery-bound melody with wah-wah punch lines, then duetting casually with the eager tenor of Richard Elliot before exploding into an irresistible brassy hook--all over Lee"s moody blue synth harmony. "Glamour Girls" features a propelling vamp reminiscent of Lee Morgan"s "Sidewinder" under Standring"s note-for-note duet with tenorman Dino Soldo, while Lee does double duty on a Hammond B-3 solo over the synth-created vamp.Fast forwarding to the present, Standring invokes a bit of ambient master Brian Eno on "What Is Is," as he and Lee exchange distant, distorted melody lines over a spaced-out synth wash as Dave Karasony"s train-track drum patter continues to hypnotize. Ditto the gentle hypnosis on a cover of 10cc"s mystical "I"m Not in Love"; Standring doesn"t do much improvising with the melody, but his alternating guitar tones and the enveloping atmosphere--complete with barely audible synth horns--are just like, well, Velvet. --Jonathan Widran