Playing tenor sax, soprano sax and alto flute, Tim Mayer breathes new life into some jazz standards as well as bringing in some new material with a swinging octet of Michael Dease/tb, Antony Stanco/tp, Adam Rongo/as, Tony Lustig/bs, Miki Hayama-Emmet Cohen/p and all stars Rodney Whitaker/b and Ulysses Owens Jr/dr. Mayer’s tenor is bog and breathy, shown on the hard bopping “Big P” and jabbing through the section’s punches on “ Blues By Four” while giving a hip read of a charging Latinized take of Coltrane’s classic “Naima”. On ballads, Mayer blows smoke rings on “Blame It On My Youth” as he teams with Whitaker, while his flute floats on the lovely “Elusive”. Owens cuts a deep pulse for Mayer’s soprano on the sleek take of “Bye Bye Blackbird” and leads the charge for Cohen on the avalanche of McCoy Tyner’s “Passion Dance”. Post bop glories.