Alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella teams with cellist Tomeka Reid for a collection of expressionistic originals. Both use their instruments in a rich mix of moods and affects, with the reed chirping to edgy bowing on the title track, and mournful bowing and sighing sounds on”Blues for Julius and Abdul.” Mazzarella has a nice control of glissando, and uses it judiciously as he sighs on “The Ancestors Speak” and veers around Reid’s plucking on “Like So Many Drops of Water.” The team gets edgy on “Let it Be Known” and a bit quirky on the free bopper “Interstices” while they jab and poke like middleweights on “Topographies.” Conversational music.