This was the last album Basie made in a studio (late 1983) before his death in April 1984. Most of the tempos are no faster than medium, and Basie is excellent at that tempo. TIME STREAM is up-tempo, and that too is very good. Except for SAMANTHA, which is not quite up to par, all the tunes are appealing and done to perfection. Sonny Cohn, Eric Dixon, and Chris Woods take solo honors, but it's the band as a whole that stands out on this final recording. An excellent final outing for the Kid from Red Bank.