JD takes another big step in his search for complete freedom. This time he arrived at the studio with seven new songs, which nobody had seen before. Plus a guitar player. And not just any old guitar player: but Liberty Ellman, British-born, New York-raised and San Francisco-domiciled, whose work with saxophonist Henry Threadgill's Zooid, pianist Vijay Iyer and on his own highly acclaimed Pi albums (Radiate and, before that, Ophiuchus Butterfly) have brought him great respect. The seven originals are typical Allen tunes, all relatively minimal in length and mostly modal in concept, except that this time, instead of cutting them short after three, maybe four minutes, these average out at seven to nine. This gives the trio the chance to really stretch out and totally improvise in a way very few – if any – others can do. JD himself just builds and builds his soulful, blues-drenched solos with total confidence and freedom, knowing that Gregg and Rudy have got their own thing going behind him. Ellman's contributions are fascinating. His tastefulness and subtlety – and his small, but warm, round rich tone are a pleasure to hear – sometimes just murmuring in the background. Four completely distinctive voices combining to make one totally distinctive whole.