There certainly seems to be a lot of genre stretching music coming out under the “jazz” heading these days. This album is one such release. It has both more melodic mainstream stuff and more challenging, rather experimental stuff. There are a couple places on the disc where I’m reminded of Frank Zappa. All of these tracks but one are instrumental. There are some short interlude pieces mixed in amongst the meatier numbers. However you label or try to categorize this, it’s compelling and surprising music that works really well.

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Less than a minute long, this is a killer jazz jam that features prominent drumming.

This cut has some cool twists and turns. It also features some amazing instrumental work and some great musical textures. This is both melodic and adventurous. Some of the horn work gets really soaring and fusion-like.

Another that’s less than a minute long, this is basically a piece of freaky, ambient weirdness with some horn over the top late.          

I love the rhythmic groove that gets things underway here. It feels a little like Frank Zappa to me. The song shifts quickly in new directions, but has plenty of that kind of Zappa vibe at play throughout. This works through so many twists and turns. This number definitely gets into experimental fusion territory, at times reminding me of the Rock In Opposition movement.

Not quite as fusion oriented at the last one, this number is classy. It still has some experimental stuff. It definitely works out to weirdness as it drifts toward space later.

I love the shifting timing on this, and the jamming is positively on fire. This is a nice combo of more mainstream and fusion-oriented styles of jazz. 

This has female vocals. The track has a slightly off-kilter art music meets jazz arrangement to it.

Rather crazed piano gets things underway here. Other instruments join as this powers out from there. This is another cut that makes great use of combining more mainstream jazz sounds with fusion vibes and changes. It’s a strong tune that works really well. In fact, I’d say it’s one of the most effective and intriguing things here.

Just under a minute long, this is slab of instrumental weirdness that’s more space than anything else.

The unique timing and melodic interplay on this is so cool. The track is decidedly fusion based. It’s also another that makes me think of Zappa to some degree. It has some cool twists and turns along the way.

At nearly eight minutes long, this is the epic of the set, but just a little. It comes in mellow and a little mysterious. It builds out into some killer jazz jamming that works between more melodic mainstream and more fusion-like territory. It gets into some pretty weird territory before giving way to piano soloing to continue.

Mellower and kind of trippy, this actually makes for a really satisfying conclusion to the album. I would say it serves to ground it, and in a way it does, but it’s also spacey and otherworldly.