As with his comparably gifted and retiring contemporary, Stan Tracey, the saxophonist Don Weller would probably be making his living as a postman or a bus conductor, with music as his hobby, if fans and well-wishers had not dragged him in front of an audience and kept him there. Weller is one of the most adventurous, yet least widely known tenor sax players on the British scene. This autumn sees his profile raised to new heights: at the end of the month he takes charge of an electric funk band for the first time since the 1970s, and this album marks his first time leading a quartet in 23 years. The nine-track straightahead set includes three standards, four Weller originals and pianist Dave Newton's 1960s Blue Note-style funk anthem Ol' Blues Eyes. The powerful rhythm section includes the faultlessly propulsive Andy Cleyndert on bass and Dave Barry, with his engagingly eccentric swing, on drums.
Of course, it's simply straightahead jazz - but closer listening reveals how cannily all four twist something fresh from this well-travelled groove. Like Sonny Rollins, Weller has always treated bar-lines as if they were invisible.His sweep over the chords on an uptempo The Way You Look Tonight is captivating, as are his sly, hooting opening to his solo on Ol' Blues Eyes, his whooshing breathiness and restraint on ballads and the patience and tantalisingly bent notes with which he builds a solo.

John Fordham, The Guardian