A confirmed able and keeper of Art Blakey’s flame, drummer (and-ex-Messenger) Peterson is also a composer of note, the highlight of his discography to date being the excellent The Art Of War. This big-band session is also a nod to his source of inspiration insofar as Peterson has drawn from a well of younger players he has encountered as a Berklee tutor and given them an enviable platform as soloists and arrangers. For the most part they acquit themselves very well, with trumpeter Robert Vaga Dowda and altosaxophonist Eric Nakanishi showing much promise. Repertoire-wise Peterson opts mostly for bustling hard bop, reprising pieces by ‘golden years’ Messengers, Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller and Wayne Shorter, though it is the presence of material by ‘later years’ Messengers, such as Bobby Watson, that also catches the ear. Two gorgeous pieces by him, ‘Time Will Tell’ and ‘In Case You Missed It’, are rendered with the appropriate soulfulness, packed full of smartly layered horn parts and daring spikes of rhythmic intensity. Also impressive is vocalist Chloe Brisson on both Carmichael’s ‘Skylark’ and Shorter’s ‘Sweet ‘N’ Sour’.