Although the music on the quartet date Back From Where We Came sounds very much like hard bop from the early '60s, all of the songs were actually composed in more recent times by bassist Kjell Jansson. Tenor saxophonist Gilbert Holmstrom shows throughout that he is a strong soloist and does not sound too derivative of any of his predecessors. Jansson has plenty of solos and proves to be a superior accompanist too. Pianist Ake Johansson has his spots and drummer Leroy Lowe is subtle in support. Tenor saxophonist Gunnar Lindgren expands the group to a quintet on "Blind Faith." Overall these little-known (at least in the U.S.) players show that they are world-class musicians; they do Jansson's originals full justice. Sometimes the songs sound as if parts were borrowed from earlier standards ("Brother G" hints at both "Old Folks" and "Lover Man"), but most of the music is fresh and new even if the idiom was established more than 40 years ago. Hard bop fans will want this one. ~ Scott Yanow|

Rovi