Highly prolific on record, Bob James is usually described as a fusion specialist and as the king of pop/jazz and thus somewhat removed from my usual reviewing beat. Or area of preference, for that matter. So what to make of this latest trio recording? Well, he's more my kind of player than I might have imagined, given the drive and invention shown on the opening original piece, ‘Bulgogi’, this despite the need to list his personal trainer, webmaster and a worldwide raft of agents as the recipients of his special thanks on the accompanying booklet. Thereafter, things get softer-centred, the motifs more repetitive and their resolutions more predictable, even if there are boppish accents and outcomes, with Kilson laying down some interesting accents of his own. James does give that hoary old favourite, ‘Ain't Misbehavin”, quite a seeing-to and I did rather take to his engaging ‘Mojito Ride’, with its downward line, even if some of the extraneous effects give the game away. So, an eclectic mix, coloured by populism and exhibiting what the late Ian Carr called “a glossy attractive surface” and hovering in what a US commentator described as “the gray area between light-hearted pop and more sophisticated jazz textures.” Nine of the 11 compositions are by James and it is clear that he understands the jazz lexicon, but when and where he chooses to use it is more questionable. Still, much of this music is seductive and undeniably engaging.