Louis Hayes has been firing up the modern mainstream ever since he joined Horace Silver's quintet in 1956 – Cannonball Adderley's band followed in 1959 and, eight years further on, the Oscar Peterson Trio. Here the drummer makes all the right moves as he leads a classy quintet through a well-chosen set at Smoke Jazz Club, NYC. There's nothing fancy, just tight heads, neat solos and an effortless and seductive sense of swing. And with a pristine recording sound, you can here every hiss and ping. The set opens with Mulgrew Miller's artfully funky ‘Soul-Leo’ and continues with the fast swing to latin changes of Steve Nelson's ‘Shape Shifting’ and a lovely reading of ‘Lush Life’. And later, ‘Portrait of Jennie’ is a sensuous ballad featuring saxophonist Abraham Burton mixing Ben Webster's breathy tones into a Dexter Gordon aesthetic. But for the most part, tempos rarely stray from the medium and the pulse sticks to solid, well-crafted swing. The album sustains interest, though, because of the quality of the front line. Burton's fat sound and warm tone perfectly compliment the metallic sheen of Steve Nelson's vibes and both musicians are masters at sculpting a narrative that hooks from first note to last.