The take on pianist Cyrus Chestnut, a Betty Carter alum, was dull brilliance, a charge his label has set out, successfully, to reverse after a string of admirable but unimpressive outings. 
On this one, the core, incendiary trio of Chestnut, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Billy Higgins, provides the basis for producer and recording legend (not to mention label owner) Ahmet Ertegun to insist on a program of maximum variety, enlisting for added color the Chestnut-generation, chameleon-like James Carter on smooth toned alto, elder statesman and bebop aficionado Joe Lovano on gritty tenor, and the sultry Anita Baker as a smoking jazz chanteuse. In various configurations, they perform pulsating, unexpected feats of repertoire, beginning with Higgins’ in-your-face, double-time solo intro to “Miss Thing,” a neo-bopish samba featuring Carter that starts the album.
Next is Baker’s utlra-languid “Summertime,” one of only two non-originals (the other is Baker again, on “My Favorite Things”). In all, there five quartet arrangements, three trios, two solos, and one quintet, all carefully designed with none repeating. Throughout, Chestnut’s facility is such that he can apply muscular pressure without squelching a ballad, and then dance daintily across a stride composition, which is what he does on cuts four and five, the trio “Elegant Flower” (for the pianist’s baby daughter) and “Nutman’s Invention #2,” a solo. The pianist’s other great gift is an elegant, soulfulness, expressed in deep gospel feeling capable of enduring even the most postmodern conceptions of harmony, as it does on cut nine, “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” the album’s other solo. “Sharp,” the sole quintet arrangement, with Carter and Lovano blending their contrasting timbres in a coarse unison, closes the impeccably alternating sequencing.
Each of the quartet numbers exhibits exemplary attention to tempo, structure, and polish. Instead of restriction, fierce discipline in this instance results not only in the desired showcase for Chestnut’s virtuoso appeal but also in a contemporary jazz recording significantly more accessible and considerably more challenging than most of its competitors. Young lions take note.
