Famed conductor and composer Jim McNeely leads the adroit Frankfurt Radio Big Band through a collection of his creative charts on this latest release. McNeely has the capabilities to mix both rich harmonies with accessible pulses, forming noir-ish brass over the driving drums as Christian Jakso’s valve trombone rides the wave on “Bob’s Here.” Hints of Gil Evans sublime horns are felt on the elegiac “Falling Upwards” which features the tenor saxes of both Tony Lakatos and Steffen Weber, and lovely rich pastels for a fluffy cloud for Rainer Heute’s bari on “A Glimmer of Npe.” A New Orleans beat has the sections punching like middleweights on “Barefoot Dances” and Peter Reiter’s nocturnal piano ruminations supply a pilaf for Martin Auer’s flugelhorn to rest upon. A joy for big band aficionados.