Barron, a busy presence on the local scene, has chosen well for both the pieces to play and the musicians to help him play them, on this his first album as a leader. He speaks of his love of Wynton Kelly, Cedar Walton and Phineas Newborn in his note and it's easy to see what these hard bop exemplars mean to him. Take ‘Too Close For Comfort’, which opens the album. After a neat paraphrase of the melody with Oxley, it's straight into a high-velocity piano solo, before the often-underrated Oxley gets to give his inner Wes Montgomery a lively airing, Brown and Morrison exuding energy and drive in the piece's tumultuous finish. The catchy ‘Grooveyard’ by the lamentably short-lived Carl Perkins, is right up Barron's street, giving him a chance to show his boppish credentials and flair for interesting harmonic choices, Brown's short solo an extra embellishment. ‘We'll Be Together Again’ is taken as a gentle lope, the piano chording with Oxley in sunny style, Barron deft yet laidback as he solos, Brown's line suitably buoyant as the fade-out approaches. The guitarist gets the upper hand on ‘Dream Dancing’ before Barron again moves the party forward and the invention continues. I especially liked his ‘Blues in The Moment’, with its swinging Peterson-like momentum, Oxley on form, Morrison and Brown right in the pocket, as they used to say. There's energy aplenty here, but mostly there's creativity and execution of a very high order. The result is music that's both uplifting and cleverly ordered, these mostly familiar songs all reimagined and performed with what Barron calls ‘heart and soul’.