My Shining Hour (1999)

"Duane Eubanks was in his late 20s when he made his recording debut as a leader with My Shining Hour, a hard bop/post-bop date that recalls early to mid-1960s Blue Note. Although derivative and not overly original, the music is well executed and generally satisfying. As a trumpeter, Duane Eubanks favors a tone that falls somewhere between Miles Davis and Clifford Brown-influenced trumpeters like Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard. Eubanks swings plays passionately, but on some of the more introspective material, he almost sounds like he could be playing a flugelhorn. Though Eubanks' interpretations of "I Love You" and "Dear Old Stockholm" are competent, the CD's most memorable moments come when he embraces his own compositions. The melancholy "Lonelyism," the congenial "Can't Wait 'Til Dawn" and the moody "Clairvoyance" show Eubanks to be a thoughtful composer who doesn't simply write lines -- he writes melodies." (Allmusic).