Hard bop trumpeter Charles Tolliver, who first came to prominence in the ‘60s playing with Jackie McLean, Gerald Wilson, Andrew Hill, and others, is not only a fine brass man, but also a first-rate composer and arranger. With Love’s large ensemble features veterans like Stanley Cowell, Billy Harper and Cecil McBee, along with outstanding younger players, including pianist Robert Glasper. The music is forceful, densely layered, and always on the move. With Love strikes a near-perfect balance between improvisation and scored material, and between smaller ensemble passages and the full power of the entire band. The album opens at full-throttle with “Rejoicin’” and closes with “Hit the Spot,” a turbocharged track featuring a finely shaped alto sax solo by Craig Handy and inspired exchanges between drummer Victor Lewis and his bandmates. If you had to choose a highlight — no easy task — it might be “Mournin’ Variations,” which opens with a moody modernist statement performed on woodwinds before blasting off into swinging regions once explored by John Coltrane. A must for modern Big Band fans and jazz lovers in general.