Okay, the name may be rather out of the ordinary (Cowboys & Frenchmen?), but once past that, what remains is a burnished New York City-based quintet whose music might best be described as decidedly liberated and contemporary. This isn't "free" jazz wherein each member of the group goes his own separate way; there is, however, a large share of free-lancing within the established boundaries of melody, harmony and rhythm that moderate all save the most ungoverned forms of the music.

The album's half-dozen numbers are nominally thematic, designed to evoke the images of a cross-country tour, from "the hectic pace of big cities" to "the majestic tranquility of nature" and "unexpected surprises and tiresome aggravations" that may arise when moving from nightclub to nightclub. As those images rest largely in the imagination of listeners, their impact may range from indispensable to irrelevant; in either case, hardly worth debating. Improvisation, when it does occur, serves to reinforce the interlocking framework, which remains essentially prominent throughout. Co-leader