One of the most underrated saxophonists of the post-1960 era,
James Spaulding has long been a passionate postbop altoist and a warm flutist. On this superior outing he is heard in top form on both of his axes (plus two appearances on bass flute) in a quartet with pianist
Richard Wyands, bassist
Ron McClure and drummer
Tony Reedus. Producer Donald Sickler helped advise Spaulding on the material and the result is a high-quality set of obscurities by
Wyands,
McClure,
Clifford Jordan, Donald Brown,
Geoff Keezer and
Idrees Sulieman. Spaulding digs into the songs, displays a great deal of versatility and certainly has his fiery moments. One of
James Spaulding's finest allround recordings. ~ Scott Yanow