Stryker's clean lines and mastery of the groove fitted perfectly with his long-time boss Stanley Turrentine's soulful sax. So it's fitting that Stryker has co-opted Walter Smith III to his working quartet for this solid release.

Smith's tenor hits the floor running on the opening and aptly named ‘Tough'. A post-bop hustler, ‘Tough' motors briskly while always being too cool to break sweat. Smith of course holds down spots with luminaries like Ambrose Akinmusire and Eric Harland and was never going to be a makeweight ‘guest' on this session. He takes Gold's ‘Rush Hour' by the scruff with his opening chorus, kickstarting a sparkling response from the organist before Stryker parachutes in to remind them who's boss.

But Baker's Circle isn't all steamin' soul bop. ‘El Camino' has a Latin tinge, driven by Casales' percussion, while the ultra-pop ‘Superstar', the Delaney and Bonney/Leon Russell classic, gets the full monty ‘jazz cocktail lounge' treatment with nary a crotchet of irony.

All splendid stuff, but it's Smith who earns his dough on Baker's Circle.