The first sounds heard on the disc are Coffin’s ethereal wood flutes wafting an invocation into the air, beneath which an Arabic beat tumbles out. Snaky soprano sax echoes a muezzin’s call, then Coffin (overdubbed on soprano and tenor) blasts through a sprightly, boppish theme alongside violist Tracy Silverman. “Future Man” of the Flecktones plays ethnic drums here, but it’s not clear whether they’re the real deal or a product of his Synthaxe. No matter; this track cooks, especially when Derek Jones bashes out his bass solo. Jones skulks through midnight alleys on “Walking on Thin Water”, a simple but addictive riff-theme featuring muted trumpet and trombone. The beautiful “Ibrahim”, perhaps a dedication to South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, is slow and stately all the way through. It’s a rather unusual way to end such a disc, but its closure is quite comforting.

Coffin clearly loves the many aspects of jazz tradition: he offers the ubiquitous sax ballad on “Zuleikha”, goes Morricone on “As in the Beginning…”, struts down Bourbon Street on “Tall and Lanky” (the addition of Pat Bergeson’s bass harmonica is a stroke of genius). “Dewey” is highly reminiscent of Albert Ayler’s folky, suspended-time creations, while the title track is in more of an Ornette Coleman free-bop mode. His sidemen are very well chosen, keenly attuned to what the leader is seeking in his enjoyable compositions. The end result is nothing short of glorious, a must-hear.

(http://www.compassrecords.com)

Track listing: Intro/Tuesday’s Waterloo; Walking on Thin Water; Go-Round; Zuleikha; Tall and Lanky; As In the Beginning…; Playin’ the Worm; Only Love; Multa et Mira; Dewey; Ibrahim.

Personnel: Coffin, tenor, alto and soprano saxes, clarinet, bass clarinet, flutes; Tom Giampietro, drums, percussion; Chris Walters, piano, accordion; Derek Jones, acoustic bass; Future Man, dumbek, gangira (#1); Rod McGaha, trumpet (#2,9,10); Roy Agee, trombone (#2,3,7,11); Tracy Silverman, 6-string viola (#1,4); Pat Bergeson, guitar, bass harmonica (#5,8); Noa, spoken voice (#7).

Style: Mainstream/Bop/Hard Bop/Cool
Published: August 06, 2002

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