The Dawn of Light Challenge****

Leading a superb working group with Marc van Roon (piano/Korg/Rhodes), Frans van der Hoeven (bass) and Martijn Vink (drums), alto/ soprano saxophonist Tineke Postma is now clearly an exceptional player with no obvious stylistic debts. Poised and inventive, she's equally assured inside or outside the framework supplied by a mix of originals and pieces by Monk and Villa-Lobos. Postma's originals are in essence blueprints to open up space creatively for group interaction so flexible that the line between group dialogue and soloist isat times blurred. It may sometimes be a tad cerebral, but the best ( Falling Scales, The Observer, the ballad Tell It Like It Is, and Leave Me a Place Underground, a gorgeous setting for a Pablo Neruda poem brilliantly sung by Esperanza Spalding) share a lovely internal balance, impressive soloing and a subtle sense of surprise and discovery. see challengerecords.com