The sleeve notes made much of the leader's ‘dark muse’, and with titles like ‘Check Point Charlie’, ‘Cultural Treason’ and ‘Quiet Desperation’, you would expect jagged edges and sustained tension. Instead, the first three tracks of this somewhat contradictory album progress at a fairly even pace and the mood is more that of a bluesy after hours jam than edge-of seat nightmare. Chesky writes nice melodic lines, but, with little harmonic movement underneath, the album doesn't really deliver more than a series of minor key modal grooves. That said, Peter Washington and Billy Drummond lay down some killer beats. ‘Primal Scream’ is full of broken-beat bounce and ‘Sleepless in New York’ and ‘Kill the Philharmonic’ are both fuelled by edgy funk. And the front line, with Pelt on trumpet and Jackson on tenor sax, make the most of what they've got. They sound great together, sail through the arrangements' contrapuntal quirks and sustain strong moods with carefully constructed solos. Both flow melodically and twist in and out of the rhythm, Pelt confirming his mastery of the mute, Jackson with a warm and soulful tone. Not a bad CD, but with this line-up, it could have been so much more.