Recorded last year in a Brooklyn studio personnel are tenor saxists Joe McPhee and Louie Belogenis (who also plays soprano on the record), double bassist Joe Morris and drummer Charles Downs (also known as Rashid Bakr). I saw Belogenis live with the great late-period John Coltrane drummer Rashied Ali (1933-2009) back in the 1990s and Morris more recently (that occasion at the Vortex in east London playing guitar) but not that much so. Would I go see this band live if that were possible? One hundred per cent yes. So for that reason alone the record works because it makes a random stranger want to witness the sound. It may connect with you if you journey into the free sometimes. Certainly for free-jazz lovers this is essential and more than just a laboratory listen. Very much ''heritage'' in a classic sense (ie the sort of free-jazz you'd hear on a 1960s record: modern iterations can be quite different sounding if their influences come from next generation improvisers). Hearing Belogenis with Rashied in 1997 at a Jazz Cafe date in London's Camden Town the approach was fairly similar however and this is every bit as good as that experience. Certainly Downs can do multi-directional, the Rashied sound, like few others so well today. McPhee digs deep into the Aylerian universe and it's an invigorating experience because of this. Listen to the whole album in its entirety to get the maximum impact of this exceptional group. SG. Out on ESP-Disk. Photo: via Bandcamp