The art of free improvisation and creative composition is now at least three generations old. The first generation included people like the Sun Ra Arkestra, Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler and Archie Shepp, to name just a few, while the second, people like baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson, who on this recording of music created in a Brooklyn studio in the Fall of 2021 and 2022, is joined by guitarist Ava Mendoza, of the current younger generation.

On the nine tracks of music we hear these master improvisors of the second and third waves at their frankest throughout, but especially on the rocking blues of "Do Nothing Man," with humorous lyrics by William Parker, bassist and band leader of the second wave of said artists who provided song ideas for this duo session.

Sewelson brings a voice of his time, with the postmodern self-referential aspect, as does Mendoza, with her West-Coast fuzzy surf guitar or a Link Ray-meets-Ennio Morricone-like minimalism. While baritone sax recalls the era of big bands and jazz combos, electric guitar with effects is a whole other paint box and one Mendoza employs with versatility and taste.

The playful lyrics by William Parker and Sewelson, himself, are appropriately rendered by the rough-edged voice of the saxist, as in the surrealist imagery of "Turnip Wine" where all "the guns turn into trumpets and rifles into trombones." Sewelson is not a singer in the usual sense of the word, but he does have a distinct speaking/declaiming voice that suits the purposes of the vehicles on this disc and he is pleasantly supported by Mendoza's vocals in spots (four tracks feature vocals: "Turnip Wine," "Don't Buy the Lie," "Do Nothing Man").

"Mangrove Sea," "Dava Dune," "Of it But Not Is it", "Scaribari" and "Where Are You" are fine pieces of sonic creativity which this reviewer particularly appreciated for the imaginative soundscapes and shifting pitch fields. But we also get a couple of state-of-the-art blues improvisations in the stomping "Turnip Wine," and the minor key mysterioso melisma of "Bill," a tribute to someone who encouraged the saxophonist to pursue his musical path (Bill Dixon, perhaps?).

The last piece, "Where Are You?" is very telling of the differences and similarities between these artists, Mendoza in her 40s and Sewelson in his 70s, the difference being their concepts of sonic texture via electronics versus pure acoustics; the similarity being a distinct sound and a driving, passionate use of it.