Though no stranger to exploratory free improvisation, saxophonist
Dave Liebman
is primarily known for his adept post-bop work. However, on 2022's
New Now
, he dives headlong into a free trio setting, joined by longtime associate percussionist
Adam Rudolph
and rising percussionist/piano maverick
Tyshawn Sorey
. Recorded live at New York City's the Jazz Gallery in September 2021 by engineers
Kengchakaj Kengkarnka
and
Zacchae'us Paul
, much of the album has the sound of an otherworldly field recording, as if captured on an alien planet. Cuts like "Part 1" and Part 2" find
Liebman
sliding through squawks, bent notes, and bug-like, multi-note runs as
Rudolph
Sorey
frame him in cascading cymbal shimmers, fractured drum patterns, and a mix of broken-glass-sounding percussion instruments. One of the more beguiling aspects of the trio's work is
's live electronic sound processing, which sounds like the group is being sucked into a time vortex -- their sound stretched, delayed, and skewed into an ever more exotic space language. Particularly unexpected is
's meditative and angular piano playing, as on "Part 5" and "Part 7," which are full of off-kilter chords and plucked piano strings that speak to his own far-reaching classical work. While certainly theatrical, and often bringing to mind the magical free jazz of the
Art Ensemble of Chicago
, there's also a spiritual quality that shines through. This is especially redolent on "Part 4," where
builds to a furious cascade of post-bop lines against
's roiling, tribal rhythms, all of it evoking the transcendent late-'60s work of
John Coltrane
. ~ Matt Collar