There are essentially three styles of alto sax in jazz, the warm, lithe of Johnny Hodges, the bright of Jackie McLean and the bold bopping of Art Pepper. You get a taste of all three in the hands of alto saxists Rajiv Halim, Sharel Cassity and Greg Ward, who created velvety harmonies between swinging solos on this seven song album supported by Richard D. Johnson/p, Jeremiah Hunt/b and Michael Piolet/dr.
The melding of reeds is gorgeous on the sublime and hip “Cedar Groove” and romantic “The Time Has Come” The team gets exotic on the pulsating modal groove provided by Hunt and Piolet on “Bembe’s Kids” with some nice soloing over Piolet’s drive and Johnson’s Tyler-fisted support on “Thoroughbred”. There’s a lovely alto sax intro on “The Mighty Mayfly of Truth” and some urgency on the bright “Last Minute”. My only complaint is that the individual saxists aren’t credited with the solos, so you can’t tell who’s blowing hard, soft or free. Still, a must for those infected with alto madness.