Drummer Whit Dickey has been a fixture on the New York free-jazz scene since the mid-90s, making his name through intense collaborations with pianist Matthew Shipp and the late saxophonist David S. Ware, and cultivating a fruitful longstanding relationship with Rob Brown, the alto saxophonist best known for his work in William Parker's various groups. For this release on a new label, founded and directed by Dickey, he's working with a brand new trio featuring Brown and young firebrand bassist Brandon Lopez, cooking up half a dozen bursts of powerful spontaneous creation. Dickey claims compositional credit for all the pieces and, sure enough, at the heart of each dazzling burst of energy lies a structural core.

Opening piece ‘The Outer Edge,’ for instance, kicks off with heavy drums and Brown's sweet ‘n’ sour, Dolphy-esque leaps with a walking bassline entering after two full minutes, before setting off into roiling turbulence and finally sketching a polyrhythmic collage with snippy rim-shots and plodding low-end. Lopez may be the new kid but he more than acquits himself. On the title track – the longest thing here at 13 minutes – he and Dickey negotiate a thick churn while ‘Möbius’ draws forth a gut-quaking arco drone. Heavy business.