In days gone by, swing bands had breakout small groups. Think the Benny Goodman Quartet, for instance. Well, this foursome could well serve as today's equivalent, culled from the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra out there in Los Angeles. Schroeder is a sometime player in the band, guitarist Wilson (son of the legendary composer-bandleader Gerald Wilson) is often on hand, and Clayton and Hamilton are that orchestra's co-founders. So far so good, then. Schroeder is a new name to me and one who doesn't seem to have bothered the discographers too much. He's certainly a well-schooled, adroit improviser, with a baritone tone and attack that fits neatly between Gerry Mulligan and Gerry Smulyan; indeed, one of his originals, and there are several, is entitled ‘The Smulyan Spectacles’. So what we have is a baritone-led but pianoless quartet with Wilson as a neat counter-attraction, the pulse from Clayton, in particular, as perfect an embodiment of swing as you could want. Hamilton plays brushes on the ballad ‘In The Middle of a Kiss’ as Schroeder's baritone cruises through the melody; elsewhere both men are more assertive, as on the leader's stop-start ‘Just Clap Your Hands’ with Wilson playing the blues. Eleven tracks that confirm Schroeder's rewarding way with the baritone and his status as a talent worth watching.