The album cover looks very ‘60s and the music inside is also of that era. System 6 is a hard bop-based outfit steeped in the small combo music that nurtured John Coltrane. Led by saxophonist Benn Clatworthy, the LA group spent last summer distance-rehearsing in backyards, working out a sterling batch of music that—in a blindfold test—could play alongside the best from those peak years of jazz, half a century ago. The firm rhythmic stride provides an energetic platform for soaring solos and bracing harmonies.
