It's a sad state of (American) affairs that we so often have to rely on the Europeans to hear the ideas of our mystic geniuses crystallized. Fortunately, however, we do have the Europeans, and their standing orchestras ready to embrace new music, new challenges and new situations. The remarkable Instabile Orchestra of Italy made clockwork out of both Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor, and likewise the German ICI Ensemble � having worked with Barry Guy, Jo�lle L�andre, George Lewis, Evan Parker and many others � lent its precise collective hand to William Parker for this 2008 concert recording.

Parker, of course, is a titan of free jazz as well as being a conjurer of large-scale ideas for large ensembles. His Little Huey Creative Music Orchestra can be a force to be reckoned with, especially when a residency or prolonged engagement allows opportunity to sharpen its edge. In the land without arts funding such occasions are rare, but when they do occur, Parker can pull from one of his many hats a grandness in vision reminiscent of Mingus, another New York bassist who struggled to realize dreams that outsized nightclubs.

Given the opportunity to work with the diverse nonet on this recording, then, it's surprising that Parker didn't arrive in Munich with a more obvious game plan. The 15 tracks on Winter Sun Crying run as a continuous whole, but there's no obvious structure to the 63-minute suite.

Which doesn't mean there isn't one, of course, nor does it mean there has to be. And there is a cart/horse problem is writing about what an artist might have done, but it's relevant insofar as Winter Sun Crying is such an unusual work in Parker's discography. It comes off as a freely improvised session, if with more discipline and texture than the typical blowing session, and no composition credits are given on the disc. The ensemble includes a variety of reeds plus trombone, cello, piano, bass and drums, but also a "laptop guitar" and three other players employing electronics. More than that, however, they employ space. They are, clearly, a band which has grown past the point of individual egos. Parker for his part is heard on bass, piccolo trumpet, shakuhachi and double reeds, fully immersed in both band and proceedings. If it is a purely improvised session, it's one done with great tastefulness.

And despite any second-guessing of suppositions, the proceedings are great. It may not have the earmarks of a Parker session (whatever those may be, they're known when they're heard), but it has all the requisite inventiveness of contemporary � perhaps European � structured improvisation. If it's a detour along Parker's capital double-you Work, the scenery is still fantastic.