Love Remains

Altoist Bobby Watson has always been a consistent improviser whose roots are in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers but who is open to freer innovations. For this album, Watson is joined by John Hicks, Curtis Lundy and Marvin "Smitty" Smith for five of his originals, one by his wife Pamela Watson and Curtis Lundy's "Sho Thang." With such titles as "The Mistery of Ebop," "Blues for Alto" and the title cut, the high-quality music is essentially advanced hard bop and gives Watson a good opportunity to stretch out on some challenging structures.