A bit lengthy but let me quote anyhow what Derek Ansel of Jazz Journal UK commented on Rathbun's 2019 release Character Study (SCCD 31862). 'Everybody plays to their individual strengths which, singly and collectively, are considerable. And it is refreshing to report that it does not sound like so many new releases which repeat trusted methods at the expense of originality. Rathbun's writing, playing and assembly of a quintet to present his own new music has paid off.' This applies word for word to the content of Rathbun's eleventh leader album for SteepleChase Studies in Momentum here.

Toronto-born and shaped by years on the New York scene, he now heads the Jazz Studies program at Western Michigan University; the album's professorial title notwithstanding, nothing here is academic. His six new pieces were written for these players: trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, a Banff Centre friend of more than two decades, records with Rathbun for the first time; longtime associates Gary Versace (p), John Hebert (b) and Rudy Royston (ds).