Although he has now appeared on more than 200 releases, this is drummer Carl Allen’s first album as a leader for over 20 years. The repertoire is well chosen and Chris Potter on reeds and bassist Christian McBride are on song. Both can easily overwhelm lesser spirits, but here their trenchant virtuosity and emotional strength are matched by Allen’s muscular, fuss-free approach. Just check out the trio bringing the blues to life on a magisterial cover of 'Parker’s Mood'.

Allen’s recording career begins in the mid-1980s as a Blue Note sideman on albums by trumpeters Woody Shaw and Freddy Hubbard. The drummer released his first own-name album, The Pursuer, on Atlantic in 1994 and two years later was on McBride’s Verve album Number Two Express. Potter digs into a perky reading of Hubbard’s 'Happy Times' on the album’s second track, delivers vibrato melancholy on McBride’s 'A Morning Story', released in 1996, and switches to blues-laced bass clarinet on Allen’s Coltranesque original 'Hidden Agenda' from that debut release.

Elsewhere a swaggering 'The Inchworm' and the ballad romance of Irvin Berlin’s 'They Say It’s Wonderful' are passing references to John Coltrane, 'Roy’s Joy' swings joyfully and Pat Metheny’s 'James' delivers a lyrical funky twist. John Lee joins on piano for a lovely reading of Kenny Barron’s 'Song for Abdullah' with Potter easing off the throttle on delicate bass clarinet.