Richard Bliwas with Daniel Carter: Insomnia

There is something very, very Bitches Brew (Columbia Records, 1970) about Insomnia, an ear-catching mind-bending excursion through the virtuosity, imagination, and humanness of pianist/drummer/synthesist Richard Bliwas and elder empath, saxophonist and free jazz mentor, Daniel Carter.

Maybe the alluring title opener, or "Ottawa WaWa," and the most lucid "You Went Into A Mesmerizing Trance," are really a newly discovered suite of lost sessions from those August 1969 gatherings at Columbia Records' Studio B at 49 East 52nd Street in Midtown. They sure sound like they are. For that matter, so too the psychedelicized "Cocoon," "This Flower," and "Green Moonglow." In fact, all of Insomnia is psychedelicized in one grand way or another, making for a fun diversion from the utter chaos on our screens.

Bliwas, his music delicate and most haiku-like in nature—check out 2013's Water E. Bee and The Haunted Rag Band (Rising Rose Records) and somewhat Schubert-inspired Carob Tempered Variations  (Rising Rose Records, 2013). His sound dwells warmly in his solo pieces, such as the successive "Bowery Session" and "Dreamless." On "Blue Vortex," Carter, ever himself in times of war and in times of peace, resonates, ruminates, and cuts Bliwas' melody, borne runs only to reassemble them into "Wherever You Are."  "This Water," with its certified hot house opening and free glide into untrodden territory—a place in a dream where you are awakened by a dream—brings Insomnia to a beatific close, without losing any sleep at all.