Quake is the third disc by cellist Erik Friedlander and his semi-electric global fusion band Topaz - Andy Laster on alto sax, Stomu Takeishi on the much too busy electric bass guitar and his brother Satoshi Takeishi on percussion. This disc might be the best that Friedlander recorded with this band, but if one is looking for Friedlander's finest playing it's best to look to other outfits: Friedlander's short-lived Chimera, Dave Douglas' missed Strings Quintet, Myra Melford's also missed The Same River Twice quintet, Marty Ehrlich's Dark Wood Ensemble, Zorn's Masada String Trio and Bar Kochba Sextet and even in his band mate, Andy Laster's Lessness quintet. In those groups Friedlander's playing and improvising is more substantial and less ethereal than it is on most of the pieces of Quake.

As in all Topaz releases, the group plays some older pieces as well as original material, but whereas on the first two discs Friedlander chose pieces by Miles Davis, Charlie Mingus, Eric Dolphy, Julius Hemphill, Carlos Santana and Henry Mancini, here he only covers two popish pieces - "Gol Gham" by Persian songstress Googoosh (Topaz covered her "Sahel Va Dunya" on 2000's Skin) and the ballad "Aap Ki" by Indian vocalist Lata Mangeshkar. Both pieces are done beautifully but don't seem to challenge Friedlander and his band mates.

The best pieces on Quake - "Wire," "Beauty Beauty," (which, at over 11 minutes, is the longest track on the disc) and especially "Sainted," a gentle cello/sax duet - show the close rapport between Friedlander and Laster. There is also some fine playing in the opening piece, "Consternation," and in "Fig," the electronica-leaning closing track. Still, Friedlander's musical history and his bandmates' playing in other outfits lead to higher expectations from these exceptional musicians.