Released in time for his 75th birthday in May, this initially seems a surprising entry from the always adventurous Carter. But, recalling Oscar Pettiford’s and Ray Brown’s ventures into bigband territory (not to mention Mingus), maybe the idea has a special appeal for those usually supporting everyone else. The bassist has the assistance of a multi-generational line-up and of arranger-conductor Bob Freedman, known for Wynton’s Hot House Flowers album. By comparison, this is more conventional writing and covers a wide repertoire, from ‘Caravan’, ‘Con Alma’ and even ‘Opus 1’ to more recent tunes by Nat Adderley or Wayne Shorter, alongside a couple of originals (one of Carter’s is ‘Opus 1.5’). Nearly everyone gets to solo, with the honours going to Dodgion, Miller and Escoffery, and it’s only a pity the recorded sound is rather reverb-free. That not only makes minor section blemishes more noticeable but allows for mixing that minimises the fl avour and punch of the ensemble. A pity, since there’s some great playing here that’s made to sound rather more bland that it should.