Tenor saxophonist Dan Wilensky possesses a warm, accessible tone on his instrument, and at first glance Group Therapy seems tailor-made to feature this broad, bluesy sound on ten straightforward compositions. However, less than two minutes into "Reckless Tongue," the album opener, the syrupy head breaks down into a standstill of rests and whole notes before sliding back into the relaxed groove that carries the tune the rest of the way. This brief moment of suspense perfectly encapsulates what makes the disc such an enjoyable listen: Wilensky and his band mates get to the point without much pretension, but inject the proceedings with enough micro-level surprise to keep things interesting.

These kinds of surprises abound on an otherwise concentrated, succinct set. "Exotikiss," a leisurely and lovely samba, lopes its way through the harmonic daring of Wilensky's solo, until he suddenly inserts a quote of "Surrey With the Fringe on Top," bringing it to an unexpected, but welcoming conclusion. Elsewhere, the group pulls on the familiar melody of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" like taffy, drummer