Union Square

The three musicians on Union Square have far-flung résumés: saxophonist Michael Blake was a member of the punk-jazz outfit The Lounge Lizards and collaborated with legendary producer Teo Macero; bassist Ben Allison has worked with kora player Mamadou Diabate and saxophonist Lee Konitz; and Rudy Royston has played with trumpeter Ron Miles and holds down the drum seat in J.D. Allen’s excellent trio. All three contribute compositions to this fine album. The opener, Blake’s “Strays,” moves back and forth between swing and more open-ended passages: it’s clear that the threesome is comfortable playing in and out. The only cover here, Duke Ellington’s “Wig Wise,” gets a spare reading that savors the melody. Royston’s “Compassion” brings to mind a Coltrane ballad; the players leave delicious spaces as they make their way through the slow-tempo performance. They coolly simmer on Allison’s “Angry Angus,” which sports one of Union Square’s more striking themes. On the closer, Blake’s “Freedom from Exile,” Allison and Blake riff as Royston chops up time in wonderful ways.