Recorded over two nights in August of 2017, this swinging album features Will Boyd mostly on his rich soprano and fronting a cooking team of Jonathan Scales/steelpan, Keith L. Brown/key, Jon Hamar/b, Kenneth Brown/dr, Tamara Brown/tam and Kelle Jolly/voc through a mix of originals and traditional tunes. The mix of soprano sax with steel drums makes for a rich and exotic meld of post bop and exotica, as the CTI-flavored “Waltz For Rena” has a soulful Caribbean feel, while a combination of modal and New Orleans street celebration permeates “Kumiko.” Boyd’s baritone sax gets visceral on the muscular grooves of the spiritual “Go Down Moses” while vocalist Jolly delivers bluesy tones on the shuffling “Akane Smile” and richly textured “Momma Don’t Allow.” This guy knows how to work an audience!