It is nice to hear multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, one of the guiding forces of the music on this disc, play the trumpet. McPhee, who needs no introduction to aficionados of contemporary improvised music, has been playing and recording on saxophones of late, alto and tenor, primarily. Here, with members of his working trio, bassist Dominic Duval and drummer Jay Rosen, McPhee is also joined by fellow reedist Trzaska, which must explain the turn to the trumpet now and then during this session recorded in Krakow, Poland on the occasion of a stop there for a concert at a venue known as Alchemia. In fact, the name of this neo-quartet refers to the magic that McPhee noted happened at the Alchemia gig.

The "magic" in question is made from a brew of expressive musicians who are able to break loose and shout as often as they are prone to collect their thoughts in contemplative moments, as in the opening moments of "Return of the Terror," which prepare one for the rush of emotion alluded to in the title. These contrasting dynamics of soft and hard, melodic and chaotic, solo, duo, trio and quartet strands weave in and out throughout this two-CD session. A wide-range of colors is provided by the different horns, McPhee's pocket trumpet, alto sax and clarinet, and Mikolaj Trazaska's alto sax and bass clarinet. While lots of the excitement comes from the blending of the two horn players, Duval's bass is as inventive as I've ever heard it, most evidently in the solo "Contra-ception." Likewise, Rosen gets to stretch out in a drum piece titled "I Remember Max."

The vocal talents of the players also kick in to launch the kinky "Political Stripper," which has some of McPhee's most sensuous alto sax, a quality he easily coaxes from his tenor. McPhee's trumpet is most potently made use of in "The Magician," but it reappears here and there as in the delicate "Turtles Crossing," or in the outbreak of joy that is "A Night in Alchemia," to name but some memorable moments in this 80-minute-plus session. Switching effortlessly and convincingly from brass to reeds, McPhee plays as if they were all the same instrument (in fact, this is his expressed view of the multi-instrument practice). Still, the trumpet seems to be a significant element in the concoction of this magic cauldron, if not the secret ingredient!