LA-based drummer Anthony Fung’s third album (after Chronicles and Flashpoint) is driven by a smoking core group of alto saxophonist David Binney, pianist Luca Mendoza, and bassist Luca Alemanno, who tackle Fung’s complex and driving original music with admirable polish. The written parts involve intricate contrapuntal basslines and melodies (“Flashpoint”); the solos are not only fierce but conducive to band interplay and engagement (e.g., the rousing trades between Binney and guest guitarist Andrew Renfroe on the title track, or between Binney and Mendoza on “El Paso”). Braxton Cook joins for a stirring alto sax feature on “Defiance,” which also highlights Alemanno’s superb tone and touch as a soloist. Guitarist Marcel Camargo jumps on board for the moody minor-key “Sonny’s Blues,” his wah-tinged sound richly contrasting with Renfroe’s from earlier in the program. Fung closes out with a rendition of “Sightseeing” by Wayne Shorter (which also closed Weather Report’s album 8:30). This blistering, seldom-played song originally featured the great Jaco Pastorius on electric fretless bass, but here it features Fung, in a sequence of unaccompanied drum breaks with the band cleverly shifting the tempo each time.