The skeptic in me, upon seeing this release, said, "Wow, that would have been a potentially fantastic recording had it been done in 1969 or '70." Well, this one is from 2011 and I'm happy to have been proven premature in my judgment.

Coursil, who always engenders fond memories for his classic release, Black Suite on BYG from back in the day, has assembled three more suites, each similarly fashioned in five brief movements, all of the music influenced by his late 60s associate, the trumpeter and composer Bill Dixon. There's a certain amount of self-similarity in the pieces, which can be read as virtually a series of fifteen miniatures, that might well put off listeners anticipating a free jazz frenzy but they'd be doing themselves a great disservice not committing to listen more deeply, to hear all the nuances in Coursil's playing, much as they'd have been forced to do with Dixon.

Accompanied by Silva (a veteran, of course, of ensembles led by the likes of Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp and others and who, happily, has returned to the acoustic bass after some time eschewing same for electric keyboards), Coursil creates generally clear lines in space, referring obliquely to jazz and blues but more from the chamber-like remove that Dixon often favored, melodic but never settling into a tune. Silva is extremely sympathetic, plucking or bowing (the latter most often), both musicians engaging in considered conversation, never coming remotely close to any simple demonstration of chops but concerning themselves with music at a far deeper level: questioning, not accepting but probing without rage or sarcasm.

There's a wonderful absence of crowding, of the all-too-typical free jazz need to jam as much playing into a given time span as possible. Instead, there's the strong feeling that each musician comments as necessary (within, one presumes, a framework established by Coursil as a compositional guideline). It does maintain a similarity of sound and attack throughout but rather than thinking of it as redundant, the careful listener should be appreciating the pieces as fifteen small jewels. A lovely, thoughtful recording.