New York composer/alto-saxophonist Tim Berne and his erstwhile cellist Hank Roberts are joined by Bad Plus' pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer Dave King. Collision may not exactly be the right word for what's happening on this disc, (more like a vigorous blending), but it certainly describes the intensity of the interplay. Throughout the course of three improvisations and just over an hour, these gentlemen listen intently and do everything good improvisers should do: support, cajole, challenge, intimidate and imitate one another. The longer pieces (1st and 3rd) take awhile to get going, starting from slow explorations of melody with accompaniment and growing into segmented suites with ample opportunity for statements from all involved. Each of these guys knows when to lay out and let someone else take the reigns, and better yet, when to re-enter and up the ante. Hard to remember that these are improvisations sometimes, so well attuned are the players to each other.

The second track is a stand out for me. The shortest of the three, it starts out with Iverson playing a fast little theme that slips in and out of time, sounding like some mad mazurka. Roberts adds European classical sounding lines, all Sunday-afternoon-in-the-parlor, and you hardly notice when King starts to add his knocks and thumps. Berne winds filigree around all as they gradually gain steam, and everyone's lines become more dense and insistent. Berne takes the lead for a while, and the transformation of the music over the next 2 minutes is remarkable, turning slowly from cabaret-jazz with free references to circus-like and finally almost country. Then they turn down the heat and Roberts and King bump and grind on a funky feel with march rhythms and fade. Thrilling, really...