Stahl is a devoted admirer of fellow high-note maestro Maynard Ferguson, and his band is most reminiscent of MF”s broad-minded ensembles from the mid-’70s, the ones that introduced aspects of rock, funk and pop to reinforce the indispensable jazz component. This is most evident on such tunes as Elton John’s “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” Chester Thompson's skitterish “Squib Cakes,” and to a lesser extent on Joe Zawinul’s oft-ridden warhorse, “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” All three were smartly arranged by chief writer Todd Fronauer, as was everything else on the album save “Stars Fell on Alabama,” the second of Stahl’s trumpet features (the other is Lionel Bart’s “As Long as He Needs Me“).

Fronauer, who also wields a mean valve trombone, wrote four of the concert’s stellar numbers, “First Bite,” “The Concubine,” “Checking for Bees” and “What on Earth,” adapted “Needs Me” and “Sun” from charts by Keith Mansfield and Jay Chattaway, and arranged João Pernambuco’s lyrical “Love of a Rose” and Clare Fischer’s sensuous “Pensativa.”

One needs a resourceful drummer to supervise a program such as this, and Stahl has one in Lew Leabman, as well as an astute reed section supervisor in alto saxophonist Dave Shultz. Stahl doesn’t play lead trumpet, leaving that in the capable hands of Craig Kenney, but, like Maynard, is never far removed from center stage, nailing an array of improbable high notes and sculpting remarkable solos on every number. Fronauer, Leabman and Shultz add thought-provoking statements, as do tenors Steve Fieldhouse, Dan Hoover, and Howard Boots; trombonist Dale DeVoe, trumpeter Bob Stoyko, baritone Vic Wertz, pianist Mike Moran and bassist Rob Cochran.