Stand back and this might seem like an art music recital that would not be out of place in the Wigmore Hall or more likely, the Vortex. Blaser has already spoken of the influence of avant-garde composers such as Stravinsky and Morton Feldman and his note suggests that this music is largely constructed as a tribute to clarinettist and composer Jimmy Giuffre, another idiosyncratic musical figure. In fact, three of these pieces are Giuffre's with two more by Carla Bley; the remainder by Blaser with some participation by Lossing. Giuffre's melancholy-sounding ‘I Cry Want’ opens, Lossing's chords appropriately solemn, Blaser seemingly tentative as he jumps to the upper register, tremulous and lacking ripeness. The effect is much like a typical warm-up exercise as he moves up and down the scale. ‘Missing Mark Suetterlyn’ uses multiphonics and is momentarily episodic before Gress and Cleaver set up the quite perky motif and Blaser offers a trill or two, with sudden high swoops, the drummer then breaking up the beat. Carla Bley's ‘Temporarily’ is relatively conventional; Blaser's sound still verging on the mournful, as Cleaver transforms the mood and Lossing plunges ahead. ‘The First Snow’ is more turbulent, Lossing freaking out on keyboard as Gress and Cleaver move towards total freedom. Though Steve Swallow's note proclaims them to be daring and bold, and that's a fair description here, these collective explorations of often-fragmentary themes do make for a demanding listen. Where does exposition merge into improvisation? Not an easy question to answer on this evidence.