Wallace has got himself a brand new acoustic band. Out go his brother Antoine (to form a pianoless trio featuring his talented barely teenaged son on drums), Cuban pianist Aruán Ortiz and bassist Rashaan Carter, plus the various deejays of recent records. Only exhilarating drummer Kush Abadey remains, to be joined by three extremely young ‘unknowns’, including a 16-year old bass player and two exuberant young saxophonists, both bursting at the seams with ideas and enthusiasm. Arnold Lee is the son of respected bassist Bill Lee, while Ben Solomon is a really forceful Coltrane-inspired tenorist. Both wail like cats on a hot tin roof. Of the two pianists, Gould is probably the stronger and he’s since replaced Ladin. As well as three originals, Roney has chosen excellent material for the sessions, including some hard bop era tunes which are highly melodic as well as harmonically interesting and which thoroughly deserve greater recognition. Like drummer Roy Brooks’ title tune (from his Free Slave LP), two Duke Pearson Blue Note specials and two by McCoy Tyner (‘Search For Peace’ and the melancholy cliff-hanging closing track featuring Roney, ‘You Taught My Heart to Sing’). A terrific contemporary hard bop album. Great tunes, a lot-to-say solos and, above all, that missing ingredient from so much of today’s music – excitement! More please.