Personnel: Buddy DeFranco (clarinet); Buddy DeFranco; Rufus Reid (bass guitar); Howard Alden, Joe Cohn (guitar); Lew Soloff (trumpet); Derek Smith (piano); Ed Metz, Jr. (drums).

Audio Mixer: Jim Czak.

Liner Note Author: Andrew Velez.

Recording information: Nola Recording Studios, New York, NY (12/11/2006/12/12/2006).

Eighty-three year old clarinetist Buddy DeFranco recorded this pleasantly solid and well-executed mainstream jazz album in December 2006 in the company of trumpeter Lew Soloff, pianist Derek Smith, guitarists Howard Alden and Joe Cohn, bassist Rufus Reid, and drummer Ed Metz, Jr. Given that such stamina and improvisatory resourcefulness would be admirable in a man half his age, DeFranco's performance on this album is both impressive and inspiring, for everyone should aspire to this kind of creative maturity. The clarinetist is to be commended for his exceptionally fine work on "Joy Spring" and "Anthropology," and for having the good sense to dedicate both an original composition and an entire album to his black kitty. ~ arwulf arwulf

Down Beat (p.79) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "DeFranco's style, still echoing a bit of bebop but even more expressive on the slower tunes, leave room for others to stretch out as well."

JazzTimes (p.90) - "Like his tone and his ideas, this album is vibrant, youthful, often fearless."