Ellery Eskerlin is without a doubt a passionate player, his work with his ensemble that includes accordionist Andrea Parkins and drummer Jim Black (also on the HatOLOGY label) especially rewarding. Dave Liebman is one of the greatest saxophonists in jazz, an improviser par excellence who takes no prisoners. Thus the concept of uniting them on CD length statement seems natural and inevitable. And this is a good album, but two passionate tenors in solo, dialogue and ensemble does led to a monotony of tone; there comes a point when the ear craves for chordal accompaniment in addition to bass and drums, not just to provide contrast but to lend tonal cohesion to the ensembles. We are moving away from the solo as the sine qua non of jazz expressionism towards creating an effective context for the solo to be framed. Thus the ensemble, how it is structured in terms of tonal organisation, and the composition which frames the solo is growing in importance. There are many reasons for this, and one may be that audiences are seeking something more than a solo as an end in itself, perceived by many today as a brain puzzle, and are seeking the context composition and arrangements provide. This move tends to leave albums such as this sounding curiously old fashioned, despite their technical erudition.