Donald Brown ventures away from post-bop to a more contemporary sound on this studio date. In addition to old friend
Bill Mobley, heard on both trumpet and flugelhorn, the pianist is accompanied by electric bassist Essiet Essiet, soprano and tenor saxophonist
Jean Toussaint, guitarist
Jerome Barde, drummer Billy Kilson, and percussionist Anga Diaz. "Reruns From the Seventies," a rather monotonous funk piece (dedicated to
George Clinton and
Prince), is a disappointment, as is the labored "Suite: In Search of the Bush Man Essiet." Better is the intense "No Man's Land," which builds upon
Brown's vamp into a firestorm, and the complex ballad "What Do You Think of Me Now?." Unfortunately, the engineering on this session is inferior to
Brown's earlier Space Time recordings due to the often-distorted sound of the reeds and brass. But fans of
Donald Brown will still want to pick up this French CD. ~ Ken Dryden