A fine English tenor saxophonist and clarinetist who has been flexible through the years (able to sound comfortable in both bop and free settings),
Tony Coe is in excellent form on this quintet LP from the British Hot House label. Joined by three American expatriates (trumpeter
Benny Bailey, pianist
Horace Parlan and bassist
Jimmy Woode) and drummer
Idris Muhammad,
Coe performs two of his originals and six less-played standards (highlighted by
Thelonious Monk's "Light Blue,"
Bill Evans' "Re: Person I Knew" and "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry"). The music is fine if not innovative or all that memorable, and it should satisfy modern mainstream jazz collectors.