The rhythmic and textural flavours of Jaffe's brass, strings and rhythm project range from the gentle waltz of the opening title track to the tempo-shifting complexities of ‘Steve Biko’, originally written for Max Roach's double quartet of the early 1980s. Here, drummer Jonathan Barber captures something of Roach's crisp snare and lyrical strings and brass interlock over a 12-tone bass riff that symbolises Biko's imprisonment. Elsewhere, Roma rhythms inform ‘Fleurette Chinoise’ and ‘In Case This is Goodbye’ offers a slightly dirgey ballad, while ‘Go Down Moses’, the only cover, is movingly reconceived as a saxophone quartet. Jaffe's long career in jazz takes in education and composition as well as performance – Wallace Roney, the standout soloist on this CD, is an ex-student – and the leader expertly welds together these disparate influences into coherence. Strings add counterpoint, riff rhythmically and blend seamlessly with the brass – the French horn hints at Gil Evans, but no more – and though the design is intricate, it is balanced by the straightforward structures that support the straight-ahead blowing. The rhythm section and soloists are solid throughout, and though it's only Roney that adds sparkle, the quality of the writing makes the CD worth checking out.