Survival of the Fittest

Tenor saxist Jordan VanHemert mixes and matches his rhythm team of Helen Sung/p, Rodney Whitaker/b and Lewis Nash/dr with a brass secion of Terell Stafford/tp-fh and Michael Dease/tb in various musical portraits. VanHemert's tone is a complete joy, rich and full of texture while relaxed and bel canto. Unsurprisingly the most endearing tunes are the collection of duets, as he goes mano a mano with Nash on the feisty "Softly As In A Morning Sunrise", " graceful with Sung on "Sea Of Tranquility" and gloriously flickering like a church candle on " Come Sunday".

Not that everything else is a letdown, as the saxist long boards over Whitaker's hip line on the sensuous "Here and Now" and shuffles with the horns on the swinging "Tread Lightly" while building up drama on the title track. This one's a joy.