For their fourth release, a true Jazz supergroup, The Cookers, have swapped out saxophonist Craig Handy for Donald Harrison, raising the median age of the septet to just under 70. All of that longevity doesn’t mean complacency, however: The 69-year-old pianist George Cables, septuagenarians Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Billy Harper (tenor saxophone), Cecil McBee (bass) and Billy Hart (drums) and the Cookers’ two youngsters, Harrison (54) and trumpeter David Weiss (49) may bring well-defined personal styles to this ongoing project, but there’s nothing retro about them. The Cookers cook, all right, and if anything they’ve become even more assured, skillful and single-minded with each new offering.

The Cookers are a young group of oldsters, seven esteemed jazz veterans of some 60s and 70s years of age whose experience and ongoing creativity now offer their latest development. Often a gathering of jazz greats produces nice, somewhat nostalgic but not distinctive recordings; this one is different. These artists are true colleagues who worked with each in other ensembles, and while leaders of their own bands, they can mesh into the composition. Two trumpets, Eddie Henderson and David Weiss, are joined with two saxophones, Donald Harrison on alto and Billy Harper on tenor. Bass, piano, and drums are the forte respectively of George Cables, Cecil McGee, and Billy Hart.

Trumpeter, composer and band leader David Weiss has a wide-ranging inquisitiveness and acquaintance with both modernistic, forward-seeking jazz and early jazz-fusion. On the 76-minute Wake Up Call, Weiss’ latest album with his ensemble Point of Departure, he showcases his uncanny ability to uncork material which is not always well-known to jazz fans, but which brings to life music which has an essence that goes beyond what is predictable. Notably, there are no originals among the nine tracks on Wake Up Call, and yet Weiss has managed to put compositions by John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson and others into a cohesive and thematic whole. No easy feat to reinterpret other musicians’ work and make it comfortably fit into a singular compendium. Weiss slices his album into three sections: Prologue; Unfinished Business; and New Beginning.