finds standing yet again on the fault line between stylistic epochs. In early 1963, pianist , bassist , and drummer left to form their own trio, and was forced to form a new band, which included Memphis tenor player and bassist . When next entered the studio in Hollywood, he added local drummer and British studio ace , who ultimately decided not to go on the road with . It's easy to see why liked , who contributed the dancing title tune and "Joshua" to the session. On three mellifluous standards -- particularly a cerebral "Basin Street Blues" and a broken-hearted "I Fall in Love Too Easily" -- the pianist plays with an elegant, refined touch, and the kind of rarefied voicings that suggest . responds with some of his most introspective, romantic ballad playing. When returned to New York he finally succeeded in spiriting away a brilliantly gifted 17-year-old drummer from : . On the title tune you can already hear the difference, as his crisp, driving cymbal beat and jittery, aggressive syncopations propel into the upper reaches of his horn. On "So Near, So Far" the drummer combines with and new pianist to expand on a light Afro-Cuban beat with a series of telepathic changes in tempo, texture, and dynamics. Meanwhile, 's "Joshua" (with its overtones of "So What" and "All Blues") portends the kind of expressive variations on the basic 4/4 pulse that would become the band's trademark, as and ascend into bebop heaven. ~ Rovi Staff