Hautzinger and Lehn were paired up (along with Bertrand Gauget) for 2009's excellent Close up. The playing on that CD, along with its name, serves as interesting contrast to Scope. Scope is generally more distant: perhaps the "landscape" shot to Close Up's microscopy. But, more importantly, Scope shares with Close Up evidence of these players' abilities to paint breathtakingly singular pieces in sound. Neither the lineup nor their instrumentation gives much clue to what will happen next at nearly any moment on this collection.

Hautzinger's work in particular is so radically tangential to expectations of his instrument that it seems almost perverse to refer to him as a trumpet player. Essentially he explores the internal acoustics of small metallic tubes through analog electronic processing. That these investigations occur using a cultural artifact known as a trumpet is somewhat beside the point (unless, a la surrealists like Davey Williams and LaDonna Smith, Hautzinger is banking on the performance value of the attendant irony).

Perhaps the most recognizable among the instruments on Scope is Zoubek's piano. However, Zoubek spends as much (or more) of his time hovering over the strings as the keys. His attention to timbre and note placement is far more reminiscent of Derek Bailey (at his most minimalist) than Cecil Taylor.

To the credit of the players qua musicians, a fair number of the sonic events taking place are difficult to identify. That is a plus with music of this kind. It allows the music to transport one away from ratiocinative concerns about instrumental prowess and allow the music to speak its own purely non-conceptual language. As with this quartet, players have to be skilled instant composers to facilitate that transition in the listener's mind; but, at the blissful moment of full engagement with the music, such matters of control and intent lie outside the focus of attention.

The album features excellent evocation of space without loss of detail � the title track is a prime example. "Scope" the track runs the dynamic gamut, with all of it occurring in something approaching that epic "room" that will be familiar to listeners of Evan Parker's electroacoustic ensembles. Yet when the maelstrom of the central part of the piece enters its death throes, the listener's ears are allowed to zoom in for the autopsy, as the players prod and pluck the remains of the music for whatever it has left to give. The "room" does not continue to swallow their investigations. Lehn, Hautzinger, and Zoubek take the mixing and recording credit on the CD packaging, and the credit is well deserved.

Lehn is perhaps the most well-known among the players here, so it is worth mentioning his playing for those who will be most drawn to the CD by his presence. The album is decidedly darker and more cinematic than other notable titles featuring Lehn, like those of his duo with Gerry Hemingway and Konk Pack. However, the final track, "hal," is perhaps most like classic Lehn. It demonstrates Lehn's mastery of vintage synth language, with all the buzzes, beeps, and burbles that sound best using 20th century analog devices; and some of the playing has that pointillist approach that Lehn does so well. But the fact that Lehn can transcend his own familiar territory and still produce such utterly unique and compelling music as found on Scope is a credit to his musicianship, as well as that of his partners here.

Scope is stunning in its originality and is one of the best exemplars of the creative value of improvisation that I have encountered in quite a while. It is likely to please both fans of European free improvisation and those interested in the sound artistry of electroacoustic music.