This outing is one of tenor-saxophonist
Steve Grossman's finest recordings to date. He has mixed together the almost equal influences of
John Coltrane and
Sonny Rollins to achieve his own style and sound. The program is quite strong with its superior yet generally underplayed standards joined by two of the leader's originals,
Elvin Jones's "E.J.'s Blues" and
Freddie Redd's "Time to Smile"; also the lineup of musicians would be difficult to top. Pianist
Willie Pickens shows a lot of versatility on the hard bop-oriented music, trumpeter
Tom Harrell (who is on around half of the tracks) is as fiery and alert as usual, bassist
Cecil McBee has a strong musical personality that comes across even when restricted to accompanying the soloists, and drummer
Elvin Jones remains in prime form. The main focus however is mostly on
Grossman and he continues to grow as an improviser year-by-year. Highly recommended. ~ Scott Yanow