A very welcome return for the Chicagoan multi-reed player who was one of the key figures on Elektra Musician, a pivotal label of the 1980s. Setting aside the bass clarinet and flute to focus solely on the tenor saxophone Freeman is on good form and has a very simpatico partner in German double bassist Heiri Kanzig. As the recent release by Oliver Lake and William Parker showed there is much to be gained from this relatively uncommon pairing of instruments, and the Freeman-Kanzig duet has comparable strength of character. Freeman's tone is lithe and sensual, with a spacious phrasing that is as effective on the pastoral ballads as it is on the more dance-oriented pieces such as the funky ‘One For Eddie Who 2’. As for Kanzig his comping is very good, and his ability to enhance his ostinatos with the most subtle melodic fills or chordal colours brings a lot to the performance, the highlight of which is a quite sumptuous Freeman original ‘The Essence Of Silence’, which is practically a segue of Coltrane's ‘Equinox’ and McCoy Tyner's ‘Contemplation’. Lastly, major props must go to soundman Andy Neresheimer whose mix is such that at times both instruments seem to glow out of the speakers and radiate right into your front room.