Here is an anthology of ' comparatively small output for the piano, whether solo, duo, or in tandem with another instrument. The title of the album -- also the first composition in the sequence -- gives you an idea of what to expect, for ' motor rhythms turn several of these pieces into travelogues. You're in a car, watching the scenery flash by as the sophisticated well-tuned engine sets the rhythm, slowing to a contemplative crawl before picking up speed again. This is certainly the case in , with its fast-slow-fast, three-movement layout and running ostinatos -- and , named after a tiny hamlet near ' cabin retreat deep in the Sierra Nevada, has the same ABA tempo structure and similar motorized driving ideas. introduces a violin into the mix, with star violinist scraping away lustily and rhythmically at the first movement, as if this were prime , and on piano, while is left to the duo pianos of and . is a more complex animal; the rhythms shift, lurch, and generally make the life of anyone who sight-reads it miserable over a span of six minutes. The disc also takes in two solo piano pieces written two decades (1977) before their companions -- the brief, limpid, exercise and its much larger companion, . From a 21st century vantage point, now seems like the signpost at the beginning of a long stylistic highway; obsessive patterns still run the show yet a restless spirit yearns to break free. The composer provides typically erudite yet offbeat liner notes -- always worth reading. ~ Richard S. Ginell