Bob Mintzer's big band is as muscular as his tenor sax playing with the band Yellowjackets. Riffs come with sharp articulation and rhythmic intent, strident calls get a velvet response and end-of-chorus flourishes always impress. But it's not all one way. The voicings are supple and the rhythm section's funky beats are lean, mean and have a spring in their step. The set opens with ‘Get Up!’, the first of five Mintzer originals. As the title suggests, it comes with funky beats and picked rhythm guitar. Elsewhere, ‘Truth is Spoken Here’ and ‘Civil War’ are variations on this soon-established theme while the closer is ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’, a backbeat driven blues. Covers include the Isley Brother's ‘It's Your Thing’, Sly Stone's ‘Sing a Simple Song’, a feature for Roy Obiedo on guitar, and Wayne Shorter's ‘Elegant People’ from Weather Report's album Black Market, now re-drawn as a feature for Bob Malach's tenor sax. Mintzer restricts himself to three solos and is at his best on the subtly arranged ‘Civil War’, while elsewhere trumpeter John Daversa and trombonist Michael Davis also stand out. But this album is more about classy arrangements sensitively played by big band brass. This band is as tight as a nut and funky to boot.