OK, so I opened my Christmas present early. . . and slapped Pete's new disk on the CD player tonight.
—First off, these are great tunes and this is great playing, but above all, this is a man who loves the sound of the saxophone —and knows how to record it! Honestly, this is as fine an up-close full-sonority old-school saxophone sound as I've heard on a disk in ages —it is just ravishing— throaty fruity, breathy sexy, raunchy tender, quiet and piercing, loping, strutting, slinking, howling, whispering, slurring and bending.
No, I'm not Pete's cousin, and I don't mean to make him sound like a werewolf, but —hugely recommended.
The playalong disk and sheet music is equally good, and even for a beginner like me there's a couple of tunes I'm dying to try. I'll have to wait till tomorrow all the same, as I don't think the neighbours will appreciate it at half past midnight. (I was listening on headphones.) Still, I'll have that last track again —a totally insane version of 'Night Train'. Phew! Shed full of music indeed.