Mal has worked with German drummer Klaus Weiss on multiple occasions. He was in his touring band. There are two official records of those encounters: this studio album and a live record from 1979 called 'On Tour'. The German drummer was a pretty well known figure within the German jazz scene and made lots of records for different recording companies. In 1975 he got Billy Harper and Cecil Bridgewater playing on his excellent 'The Git Go' album where he played Mal's composition even before Mal recorded it himself. He is an excellent drummer with a nice feel for more adventurous music. Never into avant-garde territory but the music is definitely more than ordinary contemporary jazz music. Most of the other German band members played mostly within their national jazz scéne except for bassist Knauer who also played regularly next to Chet Baker. Mal himself here was at an artistic peak releasing albums for Enja like One-Upmanship and Moods and running his own sextet with Steve Lacy, Terumasa Hino, Hermann Breuer, Jimmy Woode and Makaya Nthsoko.
So what kind of music is to be expected on this record: restless and adventurous postbop! The first three compositions were all written in honor of John Coltrane by Mal Waldron. And they have his (Mal's) trademarks all over them. The first composition starts more in a Trane like atmosphere but evolves slowely into a song that reminds of Mal's Git-Go composition. Schwaller's role is pretty limited here only playing the chorus. Mal is in the spotlights and he solo's like he did in those days: hunted and full of tension with a heavy left hand approach. Same goes for his excellent 'Shades of Coltrane' composition where he only uses a couple of phrases to create a hypnotic atmosphere with wide spaces for Weiss en Knauer to stretch out on. Schwaller's solo here is excellent with a creative and original approach. He definitely has a sound of its own and it sounds mature an masculine.
Side B consists of three compositions that were not written by Mal but by the other band members. That means the music lose some of it's originality and quirky sound. It goes back into more known and mainstream territory. That means the music is still good, the band still swings but it all sounds a little less exciting than on Side A. Big exception is 'Drone' which was written by Weiss himself. It's really a showcase of the whole band's qualities with excellent solo's by Schwaller, Moll and Weiss himself.
The LP was released by Musician's Record Co. and was never reissued. It's so unfortunate that this kind of music will be forgotten for nobody thinks of reissuing it. Truly a missed opportunity for the musicians talents are evident and the music is great. Fortunately copies of the original release are widely avaible. If you ever see a copy anywhere for a low price, do not hesitate!
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