Alto Summit

For this brainchild of Joachim Berendt, four top altoists (Lee Konitz, Pony Poindexter, Phil Woods and Leo Wright) team up with a fine rhythm section led by pianist Steve Kuhn to explore mostly originals. There are two quintets but otherwise all of the performances are by the full septet. A four-song ballad medley goes well until the ending when all of the saxophonists solo together quite chaotically to unintentionally hilarious effect. Much better is "Lee's Tribute to Bach and Bird," which goes from a Bach piece to Charlie Parker's solo on "Honeysuckle Rose."