STUDIES with rampant alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, tours with Herbie Hancock and a long tenure as bandmate of great trumpeter Tom Harrell have helped make Wayne Escoffery the superb hornman that he is.

In the company of three virtuoso US confreres — pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Josh Ginsburg and drummer Damon Brown — tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery’s produces some dizzying ascents and plummeting cadences as he surges into his solos at this gig.

The notes teem from his saxophone with an unquenchable power from his opening chorus of Billy Drummond’s Dubai, while the outstanding Grissett’s hugely inventive and blues-baked piano runs with improvising richness.