This album title is very attractive because flying is precisely what true jazz improvisers aim to do, using the momentum of their ideas to rise above life’s gravitational pull. The ‘free’ part is less happy because the concept of total freedom is clearly an illusion, in music and everything else, although sometimes a talented player can temporarily convince listeners that it’s been achieved. And that’s more or less what happens here. Pianist Hersch and guitarist Lage conduct a dreamlike chamber-jazz session with such verve and accuracy that their live audience can almost believe it’s being created all on the spot. Particular credit should go to Lage, who had to learn these eight Hersch originals so well that their ensemble lines become absolutely simultaneous.

Without forgetting the need to swing, Hersch composes in a way that intentionally blurs the divisions between the reading and improvising sections. For inspiration he also dedicates several numbers to living guitarists, including Jim Hall, Bill Frisell and, in the case of the title track, Egberto Gismonti. Those who like to hear at least one standard per session will also be cheered to find the Thelonious Monk classic ‘Monk’s Dream’ here plus ‘Beatrice’, a Sam Rivers original with a more traditional song-form from him than most. Recommended to those who like their jazz frothy yet deep.