JD's first this year. After a couple of dates adding a piano, he's back to his basic bass and drums trio, utilising the huge wooden sound of classically-trained Gregg August and the relentlessly adventurous, risk-taking drumming of Rudy Royston, who really impressed me ‘live’ (with Aruán Ortiz and Greg Osby). In many ways, this is arguably JD's most impressive album to date. What really stands out this time is the quality of the songs themselves. Sometimes, there are two or three tunes within tunes or, as on the title track, one on top of a totally different one. The first three are particularly simple/complex, with ‘Jawn Henry’ possibly, the most intriguing, telling the tale of The Steel Drivin’ Man's fatal dual with a steel-powered hammer. There's a heartfelt tribute to the late Butch Morris, followed by my favourite tracks ‘Little Mack’, ‘Indigo (Blue Like)’ and the überexcellent ‘Sonny Boy’, all of which show off the bluesy side of JD's outstanding traditional modern approach. ‘Indigo’ demonstrates that these guys can still swing, given the opportunity. The closing ‘Disambiguation’, says JD, ‘tries to explore an ensemble approach to soloing. Knowing when not to play was the task’. A very successful CD and well worth investigating.