In many ways, marked the culmination of 's prime period as a hard-driving, straight-ahead bop saxophonist. Until that point, he had been turning out intense, furious bop workouts -- afterward, as its successor shows, he began to slow down a bit. With , still was pretty firmly grounded in bop, but the tempos began to slow down, and his blues influence came to the forefront; furthermore, the bop tracks are hard bop, not straight bop, which tended to dominate his previous recordings. That diversity makes an interesting listen, but the record suffers from slightly uneven material and performances. His quintet -- featuring pianist , bassist , drummer , and conga player -- is usually up to the task at hand, but they tend to play conventionally. And, ultimately, that's what is -- an entertaining but conventional release from an alto saxophonist capable of greatness. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine