Tenor Saxist Tim ARmacost took a dose of his Sonny Rollins pills on this muscular trio/quartet album with Jeff “Tain” Watts/dr, Robert Hurst/b and guest David Kikoski/p. A dying breed these days, Armacost is beefy, bold and brash, growling like a hungry lion on the modal “Alawain,” bopping like a gazelle on”Teo” and soft and dark like a nimbus cloud on the gentle “The Next 20.” He cries like a wounded bear on the melancholy “Time Being” and arm wrestles with his teammates on the fun “Sculpture #2 Tempus Funkit.”While the team never lacks for ideas or use of space, Kikoski adds extra lyricism to the mix. His graceful intro to “One and Four” leads to a pastoral mood, while “Sculpture #3” has him digging a hip groove with Hurst for Armacost to dig out of. Armacost never runs out of ideas, always keeping one foot in the tradition of hard boppers, yet still sounding fresh enough to blow all the Millennials off the stage. This one’s a joy!