On this CD some of the top young jazz players from the Warner Brothers roster (trumpeter
Wallace Roney, altoist
Kenny Garrett,
Joshua Redman on tenor, guitarist
Peter Bernstein, organist
Larry Goldings, pianist
Brad Mehldau, bassist
Clarence Seay and drummer
Brian Blade) are featured both individually and collectively. There are five showcases (for the three horns and the two keyboards), three songs in which a different duo of horns gets to extensively trade off and three looser numbers including an opening medium-up blues ("Blue Grass") that sounds like an outtake from a
Jimmy Smith jam session. In general
Kenny Garrett and
Larry Goldings come across best.
Garrett is the most advanced soloist on the date (sometimes hinting at the ideas of the M-Base players) while
Goldings constantly pushes the horns in the ensembles and drives the rhythm section.
Joshua Redman and
Wallace Roney (the latter at his best on "Nature Boy") also have their strong moments. Although nothing all that innovative occurs during the hard bop-oriented performances, the straightahead music from these
Young Lions is enjoyable and consistently swinging. ~ Scott Yanow