Born in The Wire territory of Baltimore, Warren, now 31, is quite a rarity these days in that he tells you he likes “to come out right at you swinging, nice and hard…not a lot of weird time signatures. I like to play really hard, fast and kind of flashy!” A multi-instrumentalist, he decided to concentrate on vibes after getting into Milt Jackson’s work. I first heard him on a rehearsal tape circa 2005 with Jeremy Pelt (who guests here on two tracks) during the latter’s Wired period, along with guitarist Mike Moreno (now on Criss Cross) and drummer Tommy Crane. Since ’07, he’s been a member of Christian McBride’s Inside Straight group and his boss not only backs him here, but also co-produces (with Al Prior). The opener ‘427 Mass Avenue’ is a really hard swinging blues on which Wolf really lays out his old school credentials, while a later track (‘Eva’), despite his credo, has loads of different fast-moving changes. But Wolf also has a tender, romantic side, personified here by his moving ballad. ‘How I Feel At This Given Moment’ where he uses vibes on the melody and marimba for a touching solo. Other softer sides to his playing can be heard on Chick Corea’s ‘Senõr Mouse’ again using vibes and marimba, Johnny Mandel’s ‘Emily’ and the closer, Peter Martin’s 3/4 tune ‘Intimate Dance’. Martin, another very underrated pianist, McBride and Hutchinson, using more of a scittering snare sound than usual, make up an excellent supporting section and Tim Green, another Baltimore musician currently heard with Wallace Roney and David Weiss groups, impresses especially on alto, where his concept occasionally recalls that of Gary Bartz. A fine label debut for Wolf, who obviously has a very promising future.