For almost a decade, Christian McBride's big band has been admired for its power, exuberance and swing – pretty much exactly the qualities McBride himself exhibits as a double bassist. This mix of big-band and quartet tracks celebrates the legendary 1966 guitar and Hammond organ partnership of Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith which produced the albums The Dynamic Duo, and Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes with an Oliver Nelson-arranged ensemble behind them – classics that McBride and organist Joey DeFrancesco wore out the vinyl of in their Philly high school days. DeFrancesco takes the Smith role here alongside guitarist Mark Whitfield, and the 10 tracks join covers from the 1966 sessions to originals and standards in the same exhilarating vein.

The sassily bluesy classic ‘Night Train’ could have been written for the McBride band's insouciant drive and DeFrancesco's churning chords and jackhammering repeated notes, Whitfield catches Montgomery's warm chordal slides on the latter's ‘Road Song’ and takes off on a fast single-line exploration of ‘Milestones’ over McBride's snappy walk, and a funky, trumpet-wailing ‘Down By The Riverside’ (the set's big standout) presages a DeFrancesco outburst that makes you jump out of your seat. Whitfield's own ‘Medgar Evers Blues’ is right in the laid-back Wes Montgomery pocket over McBride's gruffly prowling bassline, and if the licks-packed DeFrancesco/McBride finale ‘Pie Blues’ veers to the OTT in its howling wah-wah trumpet opening, its down-and-dirty blues vibe exerts a timeless charm. Familiar music, but replayed with style, heat, and immense good humour.