Through a lengthy tenure in Anthony Braxton’s 1980s/90s quartet and collaborations with arch conceptualists such as Henry Threadgill and John Zorn, bassist Mark Dresser has established himself as a deep thinker with an abiding commitment to expanding the palette of his instrument. On this questing solo date, he ups his game considerably by employing some unconventional gear that opens up an array of extended techniques and unexpected sounds.

Across a dozen improvisations, he plays custom-built four- and five-string double basses with metal tines [prongs] attached to a secondary bridge, which, when plucked, provide metallic twangs and, when bowed, summon ethereal, flute-like trills and hums. At the same time, extra pickups added to the fingerboard enable him to sound up to three pitches on each string, creating rich, multi-phonic harmonies while amplifying delicate phantom tones and timbres.

These modifications effectively transform the bass into a teeming compendium of sonic possibilities.

If that sounds gimmicky, Dresser adroitly sidesteps the temptation to draw undue attention to the technology and folds all this newly unlocked vocabulary into precise, measured and, above all, patiently melodic explorations.