Found this 1st US original pressing with the shrink on (but opened) and also the Japan direct import OBI and insert present. Pretty cool.
It opens breezy and up-beat with a take on Ornette’s ”Una Muy Bonita”. A wonderful opener. Then we enter post-bop land a la Hutcherson, starting with ”8/4 Beat”, which is a superb example of how great late 60’s post-bop can be. Ballad time next with the beautiful ”Summer Nights”. Love the interplay between Tyner and Hutcherson.
The second side kicks off with a typical up-tempo post-bop smoker called ”Black Circle”. Henderson’s opening solo is fire, dazzling me with his edgy playing and lovely tone on the tenor. ”Verse” comes next, and it’s is a slower burning number with a swaying drum beat. I love when Henderson enters proceedings and delivers a wonderful solo. The last tune ”Blues Mind Matter” picks up the pace and again affirms my love for post-bop during this period. A short one compared to the others but oh so sweet.
