Bassist Joe Fonda is probably still best known for the 15 years he spent working with Anthony Braxton in the 1980s and 90s, but trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith was also an important early mentor. Here, Fonda calls on Smith’s talents to help enliven a suite of compositions inspired by and dedicated to Smith himself.

Fonda’s tunes, for the most part, present as free-form explorations but, at the same time, they’re all subject to deceptively rigorous structural gambits that deal in stark juxtapositions. Quite often, Fonda and drummer Tiziano Tononi will be fizzing and boiling away with feverish energy while a stationary Smith issues stark and dolorous proclamations that conjure Miles Davis at his most lonesome. Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii swerves from stately to fevered to dramatic with nimble agility, and frequently locks onto Fonda’s tumultuous bass, revealing the deep rapport the two have developed over several years of working together.

Within these dense group excursions, there’s some stellar individual musicianship. Fonda’s arco glistens with rich harmonics while his plucking is lithe and wiry. Smith sounds every bit the elder stateman throughout: unhurried, deliberate and utterly assured with a melancholy inflection like a weary warrior calling for peace.