Bassist Steve Swallow puts together a cleverly devised quintet here. Instead of the usual piano that he’s so often teamed with, he shifts Carla Bley over to the organ, and it works smokily well with Chris Cheek/ts, Steve Cardenas/g and Jorge Rossy/dr.
There’s an atmospheric moodiness with Cardenas and Cheek on a piece like “Sad Old Candle’ that flickers, just as alluring is the gentle bluesy drive of the title track or Cheek’s moaning tenor on “For Whom it May Concern.” There’s also some friendly subterranean agitation on tunes like “Back in Action,” demonstrating flexible interplay. For her part, Bley knows when to hold ‘em and when to fold them, keeping the murkiness of the waters just right, making you see through the fog just enough to take the next step through the mossy forest. A fertile and adventurous trip!
ECM Records
www.ecmrecords.com