Saxophonist-composer Earl Howard obviously has a thorough knowledge of his instrument and the literature and practices associated with it. In the five extended pieces on this disc (the shortest being over 7 minutes long and the longest at 21:15), the palette of colors that the alto saxophone is capable of-along with the player's skill at coaxing those colors-is the focus and measure of success of the album.

Often Ravelesque, these solos explore the timbre of the instrument in a meditative fashion. The centered breath is always felt and the clarity of the composer/performer's intentions and the sureness of his gestures are the source of the pleasures of the disc: the soloist takes you along every step of the way, never losing the concentration required to make this kind of music work.

Equally appealing are this disc's calm and focus. Opening with playful statements that ask the listener to come along for the ride, the first piece is rich with articulations of varied types, chipping out fragments of sonic shapes and hewing them to others...notes reiterated, bent slightly, left, returned to, creating a surprisingly layered texture for a solo. The ideas grow organically out of one another, and one has a strong sense of the player being "in-the-moment".

The differences between the five cuts are less obvious than the similarities (cut two is recorded differently, with more reverb and some slightly bluesier articulations, while the fifth one pulls out more stops, with extended techniques). The voice running through, however is consistently that of a skilled soloist who can not only think, but, perhaps more importantly, dream on his feet.