The musicianship here is of a very high level—as as one would expect from Burton on vibes, Larry Coryell, the ex-Free Spirits guitarist, and Steve Swallow, a young master of the bass—yet the record as a whole is something less than the sum of its parts. Much of the difficulty can be traced to the recording. Just whose idea it was, the leader's, the producers', or the engineer's, I don't know, but Coryell is consistently under-recorded and relegated to the background of the mix. Since the sound of the vibes is not the world's most varied to begin with, and since the instrumental voicing on most of the tracks is not startling, this produces an overall sameness of tone that is only occasionally relieved by a particularly well-played passage.

Duke Ellington's "Fleurette Africaine" on Side 1 is an exception. The rhythmic suppleness written into the piece is accentuated by drummer Bobby Moses' cymbal-work which provides a base for shimmering, almost Oriental entrances by the lead instruments. And Steve Swallow's composition "General Mojo Cuts Up," which closes the album, gives the only taste of the Free Jazz-rock blend associated with this group and especially with Coryell, who plays like a new man on this track and at last exploits some of the electronic possibilities of his guitar.

Several of the other tunes ("Feelings and Things," a ballad, "Lines" and "The Beach," both written by Burton, and Paul Bley's "Mother of the Dead Men") feature duets between vibes and guitar, but because of the technical difficulty already discussed it is always Gary who dominates, even though the instruments have equal musical weights. On "Mother" the duet does finally gell and the resulting counterpoint is a beautiful thing to listen to. They try for the same effect on "Lines" but end up by sounding rather baroque.

Mention should be made of Swallow's string bass virtuosity. His section work and solos demonstrate that the instrument has peculiar virtues of its own that the Fender bass can't duplicate, most notably a true resonance in the lowest notes. Listen especially to "Good Citizen Swallow," where Steve has a chance to stretch out.

Considering that it was cut very soon after Coryell had joined the group, this is a solid, if quiet, effort, and its flaws shouldn't prove very difficult to correct. The record does have its moments, moments which remind us that the Gary Burton Quartet is a group with unique potentialities for creating its own, excellent brand of music. (RS 7)