's love affair with strings, most notably during the 1950s for , made it acceptable for other saxophonists to undertake similar projects. After all, if a player of the magnitude of can indulge, than it must be OK for everyone else. , who was a member of , undertook the daunting task of linking the deep, robust sound of a baritone with a string section without creating more than sugar-coated boredom. With the help of 's charts, that musical objective is achieved. The deep sound and rich color unique to the baritone is used to good effect on such ballads as and To avoid being trapped in the sensualness of lush arrangements, offer contrasting, crisper, peppier arrangements and renditions for numbers like The Latin beat is introduced with Strings notwithstanding, the ace rhythm section of , , and remind the listener that this is, after all, a jazz album, and provide support to the saxophone within that context. They have an opportunity to stretch out on several of the cuts without any competition from the strings. work together with excellent results on 's piano gets extended play on A good baritone added to imaginative string arrangements blended with a first-class rhythm section equals a fine album ~ Dave Nathan