Ernie Watts developed his mix of hard bop articulation, fusion aggression and technical mastery round about the same time as the late saxophonist Michael Brecker. Like Brecker, he was an accomplished studio musician and stylist who, when left to his own devices, played with finesse and fire in his belly. Here, the American romps through a nicely worked set of originals with his ‘European Quartet’ – he has another Stateside and, if I remember right from his last UK date, a third for when he tours the Far East and Australia. The album starts with the keening modal blues ‘Letter from Home’, includes a samba and a calypso, there’s a sentimental ballad and a straightahead blues. The elegiac ‘Wheels of Time’ was written in memory of bassist Charlie Haden, who was Watts’ bandleader for 30 years in the group Quartet West. The one cover, Joe Henderson’s ‘Inner Urge’, features a killer Watts solo, which compensates for the slightly-too-fast-for-comfort theme statement. Watts leads from the front, makes the most of each theme and delivers his trademark high-energy subtleties. The support, though solid, is somewhat generic. Good for Watts’ fans.