On drummer
Tony Reedus' Criss Cross debut, he enlists the services of guitarist
Dave Stryker, tenor saxophonist
Ron Blake, and bassist Ritchie Goods to perform one original, five jazz classics, and two standards.
Reedus, who has recorded with
Woody Shaw,
Freddie Hubbard, and
James Williams, to name a few, stays in the background throughout this recording, letting Blake grab the spotlight. Blake, who has performed in the groups of
Roy Haynes,
Art Farmer, and
Roy Hargrove, among others, displays a full tone and improvisational ideas influenced by players such as his mentor
Johnny Griffin,
John Coltrane, and
Wayne Shorter. Highlights include the title track, an up-tempo blues, the relaxed swing of
Frank Strozier's "Frank's Tune," Shaw's "Beyond All Limits," the session's up-tempo burner, and a hip tenor sax-bass-drums arrangement of
Cole Porter's "I Love You." This is a solid recording from one of the busiest drummers on the jazz scene.
–
Greg Turner, Rovi