by François Couture"A peculiar set of short pieces, almost a pop album," deadpans Brett Larner at the end of his liner notes. But don't worry, brevity is the only trait this music shares with pop: no vacuity in content or pre-fabricated emotions in the delivery. Brett Larner, Joëlle Léandre, and Kazuhisa Uchihashi all knew each other and had performed with each other prior to this studio session. All it took was a small window of opportunity for the kotoist to bring the other two inside the studio for an all-nighter. Larner is temporarily out of his extremely quiet endeavors (see Compositions for Guitars released a few months earlier) and back to a more conversational style at the koto. When he plays the bass koto (prepared or not), the instrument fills the sound spectrum, its harmonics building alliances with Léandre's double bass and Uchihashi's electric guitar. The latter has come a long way from his days with Ground Zero and Altered States. His playing is that of a refined free improviser. For "11:42 P.M." (all tracks bear similar titles) he moves to the daxophone, but it is recorded from afar and tucked into the right stereo channel, depriving the plaintive human-like voice of the instrument from its eerie power. It's all the contrary on the short but gripping duet between koto and daxophone in "5:09 A.M." and the pretty concluding trio, where Larner goes back to more traditional koto playing and Léandre develops an uplifting instant melody. Those last two tracks aside, the music remains rather calm and studious throughout, with a certain effort discernible in some places. In other words, it is not the most comfortable free improv session, but it contains some very fine moments.