Wadada Leo Smith / Douglas Ewart / Mike Reed

Sun Beams of Shimmering Light is an interesting if puzzling session of in-the-moment improvisation by three mature players. The five selections created by AACM members trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, reedist/flutist Douglas R. Ewart and drummer Mike Reed vibrates with the invention and inspiration that results from meticulous close-listening among prudently matched stylists. But the puzzling part is judging from the applause at the end, the disc was recorded live, but there’s no indication of where or when.

Good music is timeless of course. Dealing with similar unstructured – as well as structured program music – since the mid-1960s, Ewart and Smith know exactly where and when to change tempos, textures and pitch. Some of the most descriptive passages are devoted to the intersection of brassy bites or slurs from the trumpeter as a narrative and Ewart switching among what sounds like taragato, oboe, wooden flute and soprano saxophone to either create a contrapuntal challenge or a mellow undercurrent to Smith. New kid on the block Reed is astute enough to mostly stay in the background adding comforting ratamacues, ruffs or ratchets when needed for color or continuum.

Overall the textures can be as singular as an isolated bell pop or as multiple as the meeting of a brassy, bugle-like upsurge harmonizing in an unique fashion with shrill and nasal spilt tones from a couple of woodwinds in succession. With the incursion of Reed’s paraddidles and pops plus percussion shakes from little instruments the tracks are ambulatory and andante, or exhibit gentle percussion pressure mated with lento and bucolic elaborated horn trills. “Unknown Forces” is a brief showpiece of trumpet evolution from mid-range smears that slide to sky-high blasts. But overall the emphasis is on cumulative creativity.

More a spontaneous demonstration of calm interaction than a major dissertation, the disc still shows how even the most casual meeting among convinced improvisers produces superior sounds.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. Constellations and Conjunctional Spaces 2. Sun Beans of Shimmering Light 3. Super Moon Rising 4. Unknown Forces 5. Dark Tango

Personnel: Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet); Douglas R. Ewart (soprano saxophone, wood flute, taragoto, oboe, bassoon and percussion) and Mike Reed (drums)