Altoist
Phil Woods took a rare vacation from playing with his regular group to collaborate with pianist
Tommy Flanagan, bassist
George Mraz and drummer
Kenny Washington on this fine straight-ahead quartet date. The 13 selections are fairly concise (clocking in between 3-7 minutes apiece) and most of the material (other than "Canadian Sunset," "Yours Is My Heart Alone," "Blue and Sentimental" and
Bill Evans' classic "Waltz for Debby") consists of either obscurities or recent originals. A special bonus is that
Woods plays his appealing clarinet on three numbers. Highlights include "Charles Christopher" (a tribute to
Charlie Parker), "Butter" and
Hal Galper's "Just Us." ~ Scott Yanow