as "basically for tenor freaks" is fairly close to the mark. The album is a boppish saxophone debate comprised mainly of compositions that very simply place complex melodic leads over Tin Pan Alley chord sequences. ("Rapunzel," the lone Becker/Fagen contribution, borrows its changes from a lesser-known Burt Bacharach tune, "Land of Make Believe.") Unfortunately, the results aren't particularly stimulating. Pete Christlieb, best known to Dan fans as the tenor soloist in "Deacon Blues," is typical of the young breed of Hollywood studio saxists who can get hot with little ingenuity or originality. Warne Marsh, who's kept a low profile for thirty years and is finally beginning to gain recognition as one of jazz' most underrated improvisers, is another story. But Marsh doesn't sound inspired here and can be heard to better advantage on last year's All Music.

Woody Herman's LP, Chick, Donald, Walter & Woodrow, devotes an entire side to five Becker/Fagen songs and is far more satisfying. Though I doubt the material will scare Gil Evans or Thad Jones, Donald and Walter do indeed have the jazz touch: the calls and responses, riffs and turnarounds are right there in the Steely Dan originals. And Woodrow, his band and arrangers treat these tunes with economy, avoiding the brassy excesses of the Maynard Ferguson/Stan Kenton/Buddy Rich school of contemporary big bands.

The "Chick" in the record's rather precious title is one Armando Corea, whose three-part "Suite for Hot Band" completes the album. Corea has managed to blend march music, Afro-Cuban euphoria, symphonic traces and the kind of suspended funkiness he played in his Miles Davis days (Filles de Kilimanjaro) into a coherent composition that the Herman aggregation addresses with precision. Sometimes the music sounds unnecessarily restrained, but overall this is one of Corea's best works in years. I wonder if Donald and Walter are getting their suite together? (RS 287)

BOB BLUMENTHAL