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It's a shame he followed his leader, Bobby Watson . . .

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 02/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

". . . to the ill-fated Kokopelli Records, the late Herbie Mann's attempt to establish an independent label for accessible, mainstream jazz artists. Why a shame? Because this, his brilliant sophomore disc, not only has gone largely unheard, but this detour probably set his career back about a decade.Fortunately, he has recovered very nicely, thank you, with a wonderful disc on Mythology, La Bikina, and an equally fine outing on Criss Cross, The Process.Many of the virtues that were later to reveal themselves on the latter two discs are already fully present on this outing: a deep folkloric sensibility; a lightly worn virtuosity, always in service to a group concept; a very attractive, dancing, lilting approach to his instrument, very much in a Villa-Lobos vein; an uncanny ability to choose entirely apt playing partners--and to lead them authoritatively yet democratically; and the ability to compose attractive compositions in a wide variety of styles.The band, reading like a whose who of younger musicians, including a twenty-something Mark Turner on tenor sax turning in perhaps his finest playing on disc, Larry Grenadier on bass, Adam Cruz on drums, and old guy Milton Cardona on percussion, cooks up a storm. Easily able to shift effortlessly between ballads, burners, and mid-tempo mood pieces, this band exhibits a protean flexibility found only among the top practitioners, proving once again the wealth of musicianship among younger jazzers.Anyone interested in the roots of the Nu Latin jazz will certainly want to check out this glorious but rather neglected disc."