Saxophonist is featured here in two distinct trio situations creating two very different pieces. The first, features drummer (now a longtime cohort) and bassist . The trio had met before, but had never played together before they met in the studio that day. This 32-minute improvisation is what they came up with. It is a wonder in the study of rich dynamic interplay between the three men and it's astonishing that and don't play in a regular rhythm section together. With tonal ideas being tossed into the ring at irregular intervals and then crossed out as another one makes its way to the fore, the rhythm section both responds to and drives to new depths in the lower register of his horn to dig deeper -- literally -- and find the proper arpeggios to be able to cruise with 's formidable pizzicato attack. There is a notion of transcendence at about 20 minutes where everything just vibrates together as a moving, fluid whole for the rest of the piece so that there appears to be no ending whatsoever, just a fall off into the rather. On the Tokyo date with on electric bass, it's an excerpt from a live date in the second set where everything is just coming unglued. The first set apparently was a duo between . Here, with completely drunk on sake, all the gloves come off and is forced to take his own extreme playing into new realms of aggression and expression. This is all growl and pit-bull fight -- even screams and growls in the heat of the moment. is holding whatever there is together and are at war. There are stutters, feints, tonal retreats, and full-on combat that contains more pure aggression in 24 minutes than the entire last tour put together. This is one phenomenal disc, featuring the roots of musical compassion and understanding contrasted with pure tonal violence. This is an hour to be revisited again and again because this is what is all about. ~ Thom Jurek