It seems apropos that Chris Potter has teamed himself with 2/3 of Wayne Shorter’s rhythm section in John Patitucci/b and Brian Blade/dr, along with pianist Brad Meldau. This album has a feel of Shorter’s albums circa Miles Davis ESP and Shorter’s own Blue Note era, with Potter’s tone and ideas imbibing deeply from that well. And, there’s no complaint about that.
On tenor sax, Potter swings easy with boldness and expression around Mehldau’s ivories on pieces like “Dream Of Home” and he navigates around Blade’s prismatic backbeat on the semi-calypso’d “Horizon Dance”. Blade is quite snappy,on his solo on “Cloud Message and his cymbals dance with Pattitucci during “Cloud Message”, dueting deftly with his fellow Shorter alumnus after the bassist’s intro to the deeply dug title tune
Mehldau is sublime throughout, ebullient on his aria of “Malaga Moon” and gentle with his intro to “Other Plans”. When Potter changes to bass clarinet he is as buoyant as a happy hippo with Patitucci on “Indigo Ildiko’” while on soprano he creates a nocturne featuring Mehldau on the incandescent “Aria For Anna”.
Mature musings by today’s standard of behavior.