A key member of the Chicago music scene who has worked in a wide variety of contexts, guitarist Parker seems most comfortable in this kind of small group where clarity of both sound and idea is at a premium. But while the debt that he owes to Jim Hall is clear enough, Parker, either by accident or design, also deflects some of his less-is-more approach towards the hazy sensuality of Jamaican players such as Mikey Chung or Ernest Ranglin. On more than one occasion, the leader plays crystal clear themes, where single notes are articulated almost as a clarion call in their own right, before either colouring the line with a gentle sustain or a slightly heavier attack, making the performance grow stealthily rather than melodramatically. Lopes and Taylor are very appropriate partners in so far as they have the same understanding of how to settle into a blues-inflected 4/4 or a more overtly African 6/8 and let the details – the sly variation of hi-hat chatter; the slide between pitches on the bass! the tick-tock of an added layer of subtle programmed percussion – work their magic incrementally. While the improvisations from the leader are assured in their developmental grace, this is a set to be remembered for the beauty of its melodies. Parker's achievement is that he has crafted something of the wistful, dreamy ambiences of deep house music of the last two decades without casting his real time playing against sequenced beats or sampled loops. He is practically suggesting what riches would flow from a meeting of Gabor Szabo and Larry Heard. Although a player of virtuosic ability, Jeff Parker is also a storyteller who understands that setting and atmosphere are as important as theme and variation.