Trumpeter Thomas Heflin comes up with the clever idea of making an album sound like an hour’s worth of a radio broadcast, complete with static with the switching of stations and a deejay/announcer to keep it all together. It reminds one of the day when radios were the only way to discover new music, and you had to take it all in with ears and imagination.
Brandon Robertson does the impressive job as the radio man, leading into Mavis Poole’s sermonette on ”Radio Intro” and bookending the album with an “Outro”. Poole gives a soulful message with saxist Gregory Tardy on “Self Esteem” and goes dramatic on the hip hopping “Morning Star (reprise)” with the original version a soulful affair with Heflin and Tardy digging deep into Peter Stoltzman’s keyboards. “ The team gets funky on “ Station Break” and bops to a mellow tone on “The Moon Singer” with Heflin in lovely form for “Evensong”. Heflin delivers a radio show worth keeping on your dial.