The cover shot of James Williams peeking over his piano on the 1993 album James Williams Meets the Saxophone Masters is somehow appropriate, as the three saxophonists on hand, Joe Henderson, George Coleman, and Bill Pierce, so dominate the session that Williams seems to be hidden in the background. That is not to say that the music is bad; in fact taken on its own terms it is a quite decent jazz album. It's just that, as the leader, Williams is not the focal point.

But perhaps sitting behind a frontline trio of saxophone players is what Williams wanted. After all, this pianist, who got his start in one of the many incarnations of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, held down a day job as a professor at the Berklee School of Music. So it seems reasonable to assume that Williams was used to playing a supporting role while other artists grabbed the listeners' attention.

The big name on this date, and the reason why I was particularly drawn to this album, is Joe Henderson. A hard bop player who had a string of good sessions in the 1960s on the Blue Note label, Henderson was in the midst of a career renaissance in the 1990s after recording a tribute album of Billy Strayhorn's music, when Williams tapped him for this date. Indeed, it is Henderson who is the star of the show, but Coleman and Pierce more than hold their own.

The CD contains six tracks, the shortest of which is seven minutes long, meaning that each of the three sax players performs a solo on every cut. Things get to a frenetic start on the opening "Fourplay," an original composition and the only track on the album written by Williams. His piano intro introduces this hard-bop number, then the three saxophones enter and its off to the races. With drummer Tony Reedus thrashing around on his kit, the song sounds as if it will careen into some sort of free-jazz breakdown but somehow the players keep it together.

After such a mad dash opening, things become more conventional beginning with Coleman's mid-tempo "Lo Joe," a tip of the cap to Henderson and reminiscent of that 1960s Blue Note sound.

The rest of the album alternates between blues and standards, with the traditional folk song "Calgary" being the stand out. Williams begins the number with a series of cascading repetitions before the tempo increases to a moderately fast shuffle beat.

Williams is probably heard best on "Centerpiece," a laid-back blues number. He gets the first solo and has plenty of time to stretch out. A blistering take on the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein chestnut "The Song is You" finds each saxophonist alternating lines during the theme before going into their respective solos. The ballad "Old Folks" closes the album somewhat sedately as the solos take on a dreamy, lullaby-like air.

While the playing is uniformly solid, you can't help but feel that this is in essence just a jam session where Williams is overshadowed by his guests. Perhaps if he had recorded cuts with them individually, or if the three didn't all play tenor sax, there would be a greater overall interaction. Still, if you are a fan of the saxophone it makes for a good listen, with Joe Henderson offering up some of his most ferocious playing of the '90s.

Recommended: Yes