During a major portion of his career, predominately led a quartet or quintet, so the opportunity to work with his gave him a special pleasure, by expanding both the brass and reeds to an octet. His third release to feature the octet includes his working quintet at the time, including trombonist , pianist , plus his longtime rhythm section, bassist and drummer . Guests include ' former sideman trumpeter/flugelhornist , alto and baritone saxophonist , plus alto and tenor saxophonist . Although the economics of touring with a band this size made it impossible to tour, the musicians dove into the difficult arrangements with plenty of gusto and end up sounding as if they had been playing them in concert for months. 's challenging is especially inspired, while is joined by both and on alto saxes for a bluesy rendition of a tribute to ' former partner, . The leader switches to clarinet for the powerful written in memory of ' former guitarist, ; 's warm flugelhorn and 's piano solo are also featured. 's one of his most important compositions, is arranged by to feature 's potent trombone. The program ends with a boisterous rendition of ' usual set closer, including snatches of several pieces, among them 's famous introduction to a blistering bit of plus the closing tags of Sadly, this would be the final recording of this octet, as the death of in 2002 prevented a reunion of this particular lineup of all-stars. ~ Ken Dryden