When four such canny veterans as these get together, the occasion has a certain gravitas – hence the band’s name. The combined careers of saxophonist Gary Bartz, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Al Foster must add up to well over a century of top-level performance. They work together so impressively, in the general Coltrane-McCoy Tyner manner, that it is hard to think of another band of this style to touch them today. The way they pick up fleeting clues from one another, like a four-way conversation full of allusions, is quite mind-boggling. The programme consists mainly of jazz standards, plus two Bartz originals, and there’s a really full and informative note, which makes a nice change.
