Peter Evans is something of a trumpet wunderkind. His first solo CD was released on Evan Parker's PSI label. He has played with Peter Broetzman, Han Bennink and John Zorn, and is a member of the brilliant, deconstructivist hard-bop band Mostly Other People Do the Killing. He seems to have internalized the various languages of the trumpet's last half century - from extended and minimalist improvisation to purer jazz forms - and is able to recall them with an ease that saves him from sounding merely referential.

His duo with double bassist Tom Blancarte (who cites as influences Black Sabbath and Metallica, Albert Ayler and Anthony Braxton) falls in the tradition of European free improvisation, which is to say no sounds are forbidden and no genre rules applied. (That process being a genre in itself is another matter.) The seven tracks on [sparks] fly in fast circles, jumping registers as quickly as they abandon linearity. What makes this disc stand out - apart from the technique displayed - is how closely the two very different instruments (piccolo trumpet and upright bass) move together. Blancarte seems poised to fly up the neck at any moment to reinforce a clipped statement by Evans, then to drop back down to where he was. Evans is ready not to mimic but to complement as soon as Blancarte grabs his bow. Extended improvisation, at its best, involves elements of surprise and illusion. Evans and Blancarte use just the right sleight of hand.