Senor Cuber has been around for some time now and has a chest full of campaign medals to his credit ranging from time spent with Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman and loads of latin combos, to George Benson, Aretha Franklin, Horace Silver by way of Billy Joel, Paul Simon, B.B. King, Lonnie Smith, Eric Clapton, Dr John, Frank Zappa and is also a founder member of The Mingus Big Band. In other words, he’s a reliable team player. While extremely agile (‘Rifftide’), the lack of colorisation that the presence of a second or third horn could bring to this session (his debut as a leader) means that despite his fluency Cuber’s gruff sound can grate especially on lengthy excursions including ‘Tin Tin Deo’ (10:22) and ‘Star Eyes’ (12:02). That said, Cuber is more agreeable on the much shorter ‘Sudwest Funk’. For all his obvious dexterity, the final reckoning reveals that at this early juncture in his career he lacked the sensitivity which the likes of Gerry Mulligan, Serge Chaloff and Ronnie Ross built their reputations on. Meanwhile, for Harris, Jones and Heath it was just another day at the office.