A neoclassical strain runs through a lot of today`s jazz, and it`s very prominent on this set, pleasantly tempered on some tracks by De Johnette`s ability to write sweetly swinging melodic lines.
”Ahmad the Terrible” (presumably dedicated to Ahmad Jamal) is a real treat, with a refrain that will run through your head for a month, but elsewhere one detects an air of calculation–as though any desire to pay homage to the jazz past were an act that deserved a merit badge.
From that point of view, baritone saxophonist Howard Johnson`s suave, mock-Ellington arrangement of ”Monk`s Mood” is a something of a
disappointment, a patent-leather treatment of a piece that, in its original form, bordered on tragedy.
All in all, though, there`s a lot of charming music here, provided one doesn`t take things too seriously.