One of the great – and most enduring – improv trios on mind-bendingly fine form. Schlippenbach is also known for Globe Unity Orchestra; Lovens for his work with the likes of Cecil Taylor and Peter Brötzmann; Parker for his work with John Stevens in the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, his partnership with Derek Bailey, and his extraordinary solo soprano playing (there's a superb solo tenor section here too, unleashed about 35 minutes into ‘Warsaw Concert’). This disc serves as a reminder, though, of just how special it is when the three musicians come together. They have been a trio, now, for over 40 years, and in those decades have built up a bond that is unusual in the musically promiscuous world of free improvising. This Warsaw concert is transcendent, demonstrating not just phenomenal technique but phenomenal mutual sensitivity; in their hands, jazz really is once again the sound of surprise. If ‘Warsaw Concert’ seems prosaic as a title, incidentally, then the brief second track, ‘Where Is Kinga’, makes up for it: it is apparently an allusion to an assistant they were promised, but who failed to materialise.