For his third
Criss Cross
release, guitarist
Peter Bernstein
leads an all-star organ combo that also includes tenor saxophonist
Eric Alexander
, trombonist
Steve Davis
, organist
Larry Goldings
, and drummer
Billy Drummond
. Some of the music that the quintet performs is typical for this type of
hard bop
/
soul-jazz
group, including a hot minor-toned
blues
,
"Means and Ends,"
and
Percy Mayfield
's
ballad
"Danger Zone."
However, a few of the other selections (particularly
Bernstein
's four originals) are more complex and serve as evidence that the music was being performed in 1996, not 1966. The musicians all play up to their capabilities and
Goldings
shows that he was one of the most inventive organists of the decade. ~ Scott Yanow