Putting the group's name together with the rather stern visage of Rolf Stübe on the cover, one expects a session of quirky, hard, and off-the-wall jazz. What comes forth is anything but. The music is straight-ahead and slightly boppish. The play list is interesting. There are better than usual originals and a couple of standards but, most of all, rarely heard pieces by Hank Jones, Stanley Turrentine, and other notable jazz figures. The format for each track pretty much follows the same formula: a chorus by the ensemble, followed by the piano of John Harkins and then solos by trumpet player Warwick Alder and Jason Morphett's tenor, with the ensemble taking what's left. (Stübe sneaks in a short bass solo occasionally, but most of the time his bass serves as the rhythmic glue for the group.) Sometimes the latter two go in reverse order. "Bix's Blues" features challenge and response between Alder and Morphett. Not every cut is fast-paced, as there are some rather enchanting ballads in the set. On "Angel Face," Morphett's sax loses its bite, turning fervently mellow. "Smooth as the Wind" is the vehicle for lyrical piano by Harkins, recalling Tommy Flanagan's tender presentation of the rarely recorded Tadd Dameron tune. It is all very pleasant and nice to listen to. Judging by the joshing between the members of the band between tracks, they are quite satisfied with what they have produced -- and, in an easy-to-listen-to sense, they should be. All in all, this album is an unassuming set of nice music performed by good musicians who are out to please rather than to set the world on fire. Regrettably, Stübe met with an untimely death just after this CD was recorded. ~ Dave Nathan