Tenor saxophonist
Ralph Bowen doesn't lead his own sessions often, so it's nice to hear him step out again on Criss Cross with this straight-ahead quintet disc. Organist
Sam Yahel and his trio mates,
Peter Bernstein (guitar) and
Brian Blade (drums), serve as the backbone of the group, with trumpeter
John Swana joining
Bowen up front on some of the tracks. Of the four covers, "Invitation" and "My Ideal" are fairly straightforward;
Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" sounds novel in an organ/guitar context and
Horace Silver's ballad "Peace" closes the album as an unaccompanied tenor solo. Five tracks are
Bowen originals, the strongest being "Meltdown" (a charged reworking of
John Coltrane's "Countdown") and "Spikes" (with rhythm changes twisted beyond recognition). It's the incredible blowing, more than
Bowen's writing, that makes
Soul Proprietor worth hanging onto. ~ David R. Adler