Drummer and leader Dave Weckl returns to his home ground with his long-time friend and bassist Tom Kennedy along with the hard hitting team of keyboardist Jay Oliver, guitarist Buzz Feiten and saxist Gary Meek for an almost complete reunion of the band that delivered Weckl’s muscular 1998 debut Rhythm of the Soul. A handful of the songs from that album are revisited, all with a much bigger punch and groove, with Weckl delivering a drum workshop throughout. A nifty duet between Weckl and a plugged in Kennedy make for a telepathic take of Thelonious Monk’s “Rhythm A Ning” while the band sounds like a souped up Average White Band or Tower of Power of Power on the funk fest of “The Zone” or swampy “Little B Big B”. Oliver and Weckl boogie hard on the Steely Dan-ish “101 Shuffle” and give a clackety clack for Meek’s soprano and Kennedy’s bass on the sizzling “Mud Sauce”. Sounds akin like the Jazz Crusaders are tasty for Meek’s tenor on “Synergy” before Weckl pops the clutch to create an avalanche on the closer “Access Denied”. Enough energy to make the Arch Gateway to the West shake!