The Call ECM/***:Now available in ECM's mid-price Touchstones series, this was the first of three for the label by Lloyd's early to mid-1990s group with Bobo Stenson (piano), Anders Jormin (bass) and Billy Hart (drums).

And though it has its champions, it was surpassed by its successors, All My Relations and Canto. In part it may be the material, all composed by Lloyd; consisting mostly of slow, ballad-like pieces, it's attractive but doesn't stay in the mind afterwards. The leader's own musical personality, moreover, was still somewhere behind a facade of personal devices derived from Coltrane. Lloyd fans will be persuaded otherwise, but others may find the tenor's frequent recourse to 'Trane-ish flurries less rewarding. The plus for them is surely Stenson's work with longtime colleague Jormin and the stimulating Hart; together they lift an accomplished if slightly underwhelming album every time they are unleashed. www.music connection.org.uk