Originally released by Prestige while tenor saxophonist
Gene Ammons was serving a long prison sentence for possession of drugs (the label effectively kept
Ammons' name alive by regularly coming out with "new" material), this album was reissued on CD in 1997. The distinctive tenor is heard on three numbers with a quartet/quintet also including pianist
Patti Bown, bassist
George Duvivier, drummer
Walter Perkins, and sometimes
Ray Barretto on conga, and on four cuts as part of a ten-piece group arranged by
Oliver Nelson. Flugelhornist
Clark Terry gets a couple of choruses on "Things Ain't What They Used to Be," and
Bown has several solos, but
Ammons is the main star throughout. In addition to performing his own "Lascivious" (a blues), he sticks to standards, infusing each tune with soul and swing. A fine outing, although with brief (35 & 1/2 minutes) playing time. ~ Scott Yanow