The third of altoist
John Handy's three superb Columbia studio albums finds him fronting a quintet comprised of violinist
Michael White, pianist
Mike Nock, bassist Bruce Cale and drummer Larry Hancock. The talented group plays four originals by
Handy, three by
Nock and one from
White. The music (much more concise in general than on the previous two Columbias) contains plenty of surprises and is difficult to categorize (somewhere between the avant-garde and hard bop), although it does not reach the same heights as New View. ~ Scott Yanow