Joe McPhee/Dominic Duval: The Dream Book

Joe McPhee on alto sax and pocket trumpet with Dominic Duval on acoustic string bass is an unbeatable combination, and one that produces free-style jazz improvisation of the highest order. In a way, this is a concept album of sorts. Recorded live at the Knitting Factory in New York City, the recording was inspired by the works of Ornette Coleman (as well as the artwork of modernist Helen Douglas), and each track is dedicated to a different player (Coleman, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, Charles Moffett, David Izenson, Scott La Faro, and Don Cherry). The music is a worthy tribute, as McPhee and Duval produce marvelous, generally subdued songs that merely hint at (and never ape) their namesakes. With total command of their instruments, and endless ideas, the duo produces expectantly stunning results. Wondrous and evocative.