Star tenorist Vasilis Xenopoulos has never concealed his admiration for Dexter Gordon, channelling this formative influence into a vigorous and whole-hearted style of his own. As he says in his note to this excellent album, “Dexter remains my top inspiration.” Often heard with guitarist Nigel Price, this is Vasilis on his own terms and in fine fettle. The title-track is his tribute to the great man with Collins added and swings hard, the tenor sound rounded and positive, Collins soloing with mounting creativity. The rhythm section is nicely integrated with Stanley playing piano rather than his more customary organ, positively exultant, like a pared-down McCoy Tyner, before the nifty theme returns. With the exception of Tadd Dameron's ‘If You Could See Could Me Now’, these pieces are all by Dexter and it's tempting to cast him as the unseen sixth man at the date. Collins reappears to advantage on ‘Montmartre’, this anthem-like, with the trumpeter quick-fingered in his solo. From the deep belly notes with which Vasilis opens ‘Tanya’, it's clear that his hero's influence hasn't limited him at all, each solo unfurling with a kind of pleasing solidity; his delight in finding the right kind of improvisatory outcomes quite catching. Vasilis's reading of the Dameron tune is relaxed, while the march-like ’Society Red’ is suitably urgent, as is the final ‘Antabus’, Collins again onboard and Stanley torrential. Mature, rewarding, spirited, uplifting: all four adjectives apply.