Charles Lloyd's sixth ECM album was both a departure and a homecoming for the Memphis-born and California-based tenorist, introducing new music and revisiting archive favourites - including the epic "Forest Flower". With his "Scandinavian" band currently on hold, this is as close to an all-American unit as any band Lloyd has led since the 60s. (Dave Holland qualifies by now as an honorary American). ECM veteran John Abercrombie is in strong form throughout and the joyous beat of the great Billy Higgins keeps everything dancing, from the roots music of "Pocket Full Of Blues" to a sublime cover of Strayhorn's "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing". "Lloyd responds with some of his finest playing in years...He is aided enormously by his musical companions, an all-star ensemble if ever there was one... As musically appealing as it is commercially viable" - Don Heckman, L.A. Times