Cutting through the hype, the pretentious ‘social commentary’ of the liner notes, the sub-GCSE poems and short stories of the trombonist-leader, and focusing on the music, what are we left with? Well, clearly an album that unites the Southern Gentlemen of the title – Delfeayo and his father Ellis. And Ellis is certainly a skilled musician who is under-exposed on record. Yet here he seems to be largely on autopilot, as on his lacklustre solo on a reworking of the Sesame Street theme, and we only get occasional glimpses of his originality as on his countermelody and contemplative single line solo to Delfeayo's opening theme, ‘The Secret Love Affair’. As for John Clayton and Smitty Smith (plus guest percussionist Herlin Riley) they get supporting roles (which they perform brilliantly) but not much else – not even a photo in the liner notes, in which Delfeayo sports three separate outfits! This is mainly an opportunity for Delfeayo to breeze through a set of standards. But he's not an innovative player, or even a particularly inventive one. Compared to the sublime playing on the recent quartet reissues by Frank Rosolino, or the sizeable catalogue of JJ Johnson small groups, some tracks here simply sound like a good-natured pub jam session. You know the kind of thing – the moment when the trombonist gets to blow a solo or two with the rhythm section while the rest of the front line get in a quick pint. That's exactly how ‘Autumn Leaves’ (played open) and ‘I Cover The Waterfront’ (muted) sound. So, overall, it's a good memento of a get-together, maybe, but not an album to change the world.