Live at Tampere

It is rare, especially in the world of free jazz, for players to perform together continuously, in part due to the perceived need to search for new sources of creativity. While each of the members of this collective performs in other groups, they continue to return to this core trio, presumably because the wells of inspiration never seem to dry up. These freely improvised tracks were recorded at the Tampere Jazz Happening 2000, an international creative music festival held during the darkest days of Finland's notorious fall season. Those familiar with the group's previous work should not be surprised by the level of intensity nor the virtuosic displays. Those coming to the group for the first time might be shell-shocked by its more than occasional ferociousness, particularly from the piano and saxophone. Joel Futterman's debt to Cecil Taylor hardly needs to be reiterated, but he also blows a soprano sax (usually curved) and an Indian wooden flute, each of which he has become more comfortable over time. The trio retains its essential core, with Futterman flying through the keyboards with unmitigated speed, like a sprinter running his last race; Kidd Jordan plowing through clipped phrases with unrelenting zeal; and Alvin Fiedler alternately keeping things moving or holding them in stride, or both. It is a good group because the players are top-notch technically, they know the others' moods, probably what they each had for breakfast, and they are able to build on common ground rather than stagnate in quotidian familiarity. Yes, you might have heard these fellows before, but every chance to hear this dynamic trio live is a big treat. In this concert setting they have time to stretch, and the audience clearly appreciates and inspires them.