Various Artists - Minor Thang (CD)

On drummer Tony Reedus' Criss Cross debut, he enlists the services of guitarist Dave Stryker, tenor saxophonist Ron Blake, and bassist Ritchie Goods to perform one original, five jazz classics, and two standards. Reedus, who has recorded with Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard, and James Williams, to name a few, stays in the background throughout this recording, letting Blake grab the spotlight. Blake, who has performed in the groups of Roy Haynes, Art Farmer, and Roy Hargrove, among others, displays a full tone and improvisational ideas influenced by players such as his mentor Johnny Griffin, John Coltrane, and Wayne Shorter. Highlights include the title track, an up-tempo blues, the relaxed swing of Frank Strozier's "Frank's Tune," Shaw's "Beyond All Limits," the session's up-tempo burner, and a hip tenor sax-bass-drums arrangement of Cole Porter's "I Love You." This is a solid recording from one of the busiest drummers on the jazz scene. ~ Greg Turner