John Scofield has a talent for making interesting, quirky music by mixing funk grooves with unexpected sounds and novel turns, and that's certainly the case on this 1986 session produced by Steve Swallow. Bassist Darryl Jones and drummer Omar Hakim lay down solid patterns for Scofield's compositions, while Don Grolnick adds unusual atmospheric textures with his keyboards. While the title tune has a warmly reassuring, bluesy quality and most of the tunes have strong grooves, "Rule of Thumb" and "Gil B643" have eerily spacey harmonies and "Protocol" has erratic choppy rhythms. Through it all, though, the band is always together, wandering into fresh musical terrain in tight formation.--Stuart Broomer