To celebrate their 15th anniversary,
Time Warp put out a two-CD set that traces the group's history through 21 recordings. Seven songs were out on earlier LPs, five appeared on limited-edition cassettes and nine were heard here for the first time.
Time Warp began as a trio featuring tenor saxophonist Bob Brough, bassist
Al Henderson and drummer
Barry Elmes. In 1985 tenorman
Mike Murley made the group a quartet and in 1989 when Brough departed, his replacement was trumpeter
Kevin Turcotte. Each of the versions of the group are represented on this colorful twofer although one wishes that the selections were programmed in chronological order. All of the numbers on the set were composed by
Henderson and/or Elmes and the music ranges from the rambunctious "Blue Saxophones" and tributes to
Coleman Hawkins,
Sonny Rollins and even
Robert Johnson (the most difficult to bring off) to free bop a la
Ornette Coleman and some hard swinging with a large dose of blues. The music is generally a bit off-center and full of chance-taking with the high musicianship and tight communication between the fine players resulting in some very successful performances and more than a few surprising moments.