One of the key bridges between jazz and hip-hop New Orleans, drum legend Idris Muhammad has a special place in the history of black music. His stupendous swing and irrepressibly funky beat made his appearances with anybody from Lou Donaldson to Andrew Hill and Pharoah Sanders between the 1960s and '70s particularly valuable, but he was also a skilled bandleader. This 1980 session for the Theresa label, which recorded Sanders among others, is an enjoyable summary of Muhammad's talent that also brings a novel flavour to blues fundamentals. The two-tenor frontline of Sanders and George Coleman has vivid colour and clarity in a piano-less quartet in which Muhammad locks in smartly with bassist Ray Drummond. As one would expect of players with such a pedigree they are responsive and proactive in equal measure, and Muhammad's time keeping and comping are worth the price of admission alone. Having said that, when he does solo, as on the wonderfully slinky title track, he is majestic. The combination of his lightness of touch and unrelenting drive is a thing of wonder. A notable take on traditions from a master purveyor of ‘soulful drums’.