Dedicated to
John Coltrane, with whom
Golson jammed in Philadelphia as a teenager, this recording features a two-tenor lineup of
Golson and
Pharoah Sanders with a stellar rhythm section of pianist
Cedar Walton, bassist
Ron Carter, and drummer
Jack DeJohnette. While
Sanders might seem a strange stylistic choice due to his scorching, free-style performances with
Coltrane, he is, in fact, the only one of this group who recorded regularly with
Coltrane, and he performs here totally within the hard bop context of the recording.
Golson carefully chooses the tunes, including the lovely "Greensleeves," as well as four by
Golson and one by
Sanders. Most relate to
Trane in some way, although
Golson wisely eschews any kind of retrospective. Thankfully, too, the saxophonists never engage in any cutting, so the results are uniformly delightful, if somewhat conservative.