With a mysterious name, and advance publicity promising “influences from all over the map”, this quartet presents itself as a surprise package. It turns out to be a group of player-composers who do fascinating and clever things with the standard saxophone-and-rhythm format. Saxophonist Joshua Redman, the best-known, is a true virtuoso who reveals an unexpectedly lyrical side here. But it’s not the individual performances so much as the crisp compositions and beautifully integrated playing by Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Eric Harland that combine to make this an impressive album.
