"Trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez and saxophonist Oliver Lake are well-traveled musical explorers whose collaborators comprise a "who's who" of the jazz avant-garde in the late 20th century. The two men first played together in Texas in June 1992 after having known each other for over a decade, and were reunited in 2003 to play Portugal's Coimbra Jazz Festival.
The material on Idle Wild comes from varied sources, but flows together like a seamless suite. Gonzalez composed "Elechi" as an elegy for bassist Malachi Favors, best known for his trailblazing work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago. The piece occupies a ritualistic, sacred space familiar to fans of the AEC, beginning with the root sounds of percussion and horns before gaining velocity as grief gives way to celebration. Here and elsewhere, Gonzalez plays with a soul-cleansing purity of tone, while Lake is alternately astringent and lyrical."-Clean Feed