The One for All collective dates back to 1997, but its music is as fresh today as it was then, as is demonstrated by the opening track here (without special guest George Coleman), ‘Chainsaw’ by Eric Alexander, which showcases his fluent tenor over a rhythm alternating between funk and swing.

The band has a history of playing a few days’ residency (often at New York’s Smoke – rather beautifully photographed in the liner notes) and then recording the results. But here virtually all the charts were being played for the first time in the studio. All members of the band shine, and contribute, but the star turn is George Coleman, then 87, whose distinctive hard-toned tenor contrasts with Alexander’s.

His occasional whimsical and decorative turns add to the thrust of his solo lines on the blues ‘Oscar Winner’, but his best performance on the three tracks on which he appears is Hank Mobley’s ‘This I Dig of You’. Here his mobile lines leap over the neat head arrangement for the other horns. He seems ageless, sounding just as remarkable as when I last heard him in the flesh some twenty years ago, with his use of the instrument’s full range, occasional bursts of fluttering alternation between notes, and entirely logical melodic developments. The other soloists all stand out, but it’s good to hear the rhythm section – especially bassist Webber – rewarded for their dependability and flexibility with an opening cameo on the final track ‘Leemo’. All in all a great collective and an ideal guest fitting seamlessly with the ensemble.