This is as much a showcase for the strength of the improvised music scene in the Northeast of England as it is a very good international trio. At the age of 81, American icon Joe McPhee shows little sign of hanging up his horns anytime soon, and he finds exciting common ground with younger players, Leeds-born drummer Paul Hession and Newcastle double bassist John Pope, both of whom deserve greater exposure beyond their locality. This concert at Newcastle university certainly has the incendiary energy and sense of advanced enquiry that defines the best examples of spontaneous music, and perhaps the real achievement is the balance struck between the vigorous ensemble passages, in which Hession and Pope jockey tantalisingly on a pulse as McPhee breathes in choppy rhythmic bursts, and solo statements where beauty of tone comes to the fore. Two lengthy suites, ‘St Elmo's Fire Pt.1’ and ‘2’, provide ample room for that. Pope's deep, dark timbres are enticing, as is Hession's precisely mapped fluidity with time, but McPhee is very much centre stage due to the superbly dry weight of his tenor. The holy ghost of Albert Ayler wafts regularly into view, though the clever combinations of voice and reed catch the ear as the band's rejoicing reaches a climax to move any congregation made of souls with open minds.