Strickland's disciplined and funky quintet get down to business right from the off. ‘The Ride’ introduces a slow burn vamp with leader Strickland's crisp take on the funky drummer and ‘For My Home Folks’ features Jaleel Shaw preaching country soul on alto sax. But it's all filtered through a knowing contemporary lens, and the riffs, beats and bittersweet voicings are very much of the times. ‘Transcendence’ is built on three bars of tricky 5/4 and the band fly through Cedar Walton's ‘Hindsight’, the only cover. The twin-sax front line is full and fruity, and both saxophonists are exciting improvisers who bounce off each other and hit home without resorting to histrionics. I first noticed Linda Oh playing double bass with Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas' brilliant Sound Prints project. Here, she's equally in the pocket and sounds great. Her solo on ‘Ballad for All Mankind’ is one of the album's highlights on an album that showcases the leader's neat and tidy grooves – E.J. Strickland solos on most tracks. Best track ‘Bomba for Leel and Max’.