This is a burning set recorded live at one of New York's hottest jazz clubs, Smalls. The presence of the great
Tom Harrell on trumpet and flugelhorn ratchets up the intensity, but the lesser-known quintet members --
Gerald Cannon on bass, Shingo Okudaira on drums, and the delightful
Jonny King on piano -- turn in excellent performances as well.
Tim Armacost's tenor sound is rich and his solos are steeped in classic post-bop vocabulary. He shines on the ballads "Whistling Away the Dark" and "You Don't Know What Love Is," ably handles the faster tempos of
Gary Bartz's "Libra" and
Ornette Coleman's "Invisible," and plays a mean soprano sax on
Hank Mobley's "Hank's Other Bag," a 14-bar blues. ~ David R. Adler