The disc begins and, immediately, one has the impression of hearing a hitherto unknown session with Don Cherry and...maybe Ornette on tenor? But no, it's a 2007 date by the Polish ensemble, Foton Quartet, with Gerard Tebik on tenor sax and contra alto clarinet, Artur Majewski on trumpet, Jakub Cywinski on bass and Wojciech Romanowski on drums. The degree that it resembles music by the Ornette Coleman ensemble of the late 60s is a bit astonishing and none too disconcerting.

The pieces are dark and moody, if not quite in the area of "Lonely Woman" or "Broken Shadows" (certainly lacking the emotional depth of either of those masterworks), not very far distant. This general ambience, along with the striking similarity in sonic attack of Majewski's trumpet sound to that of Cherry, are the main things that force the comparison to the honest listener. It's all very well played, very clean � too clean by half, perhaps. Romanowski is notable and praiseworthy for his discretion, performing in an entirely coloristic fashion without ever drawing undue attention. There's sensitive interplay, notably between bass and trumpet, which often carry on tentative, probing discussions.

If only because of the nationality involved, one is tempted to bring Komeda into the discussion as well and one does indeed hear echoes of that composer. But as with the Coleman comparison, though earnest and competent, the music of Foton doesn't have nearly the visceral impact of either and, by drawing the contrast at all, suffers somewhat. When they close out the disc with a brief track whose beginning sounds for all the world like an outtake from Free Jazz (1960), one has to wonder, why do this in 2007?