"JD Allen is perceptibly and powerfully measured on the 13 tracks on this album, which fall within the tight two-to-five-minute mark rather than stretching into opus territory. This concision is important. For the most part Allen keeps his focus on very even-handed well-paced narratives, sometimes using quite spare phrasing to highlight his melodic richness of pieces such as the beautiful ‘Wildwood Flower’ and sometimes opting for a strong rhythmic attack, such as on the bustling ‘Retrograde.‘ His articulation is excellent to the extent that some notes, cast against nothing but the endless vista of silence, have a steely, almost guitar-like resonance, as if he were fingerpickin' the blues rather than blowing it into life. The burly, weighty character of Allen's tone falls into a classic lineage that would include Coleman Hawkins and Sonny Rollins, and he also has some of the danceable buoyancy of the latter on occasion." (Jazzwise)
"Like most musicians in the new mainstream of today's jazz world, pianist Orrin Evans uses composition to create modern challenges for modern impovisers. This would also include the drum thwacks that constitute part of the line of "Captain Black." Further, the playing here is consistently top-shelf. Evans often plays percussively, playing clusters, even pounding the piano. But that's hardly all he does. He can play gently and lyrically, or he can spin a long, swinging line. Although he sometimes alludes to Monk, Orrin Evans is very much his own man. Like saxophonist Ralph Bowen is. Heard here on alto and soprano sax rather than his customary tenor, Bowen reveals a lush, warm sound, almost as if he were trying to combine Eric Dolphy with Benny Carter or perhaps Lucky Thompson. Finally, J.D. Allen should be singled out for his warm, deeply moving tenor sax playing on "Song For My Father." He and Evans play the Horace Silver classic as a duet, that may be the highlight of the album." (Marc Meyers, AllAboutJazz)
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