Three really fantastic musicians – working together to turn out one the best records we've ever heard from any of them in years! Make no mistake, we love these guys in all sorts of other settings – but here, there's something really special, and definitely a cut above – this warm sense of spontaneous creation that almost seems to call up an image of the musicians as they work together – Mike Reed on drums, Tomeka Reid on cello, and Nicole Mitchell on flutes and electronics! There's a magic here that really represents the Chicago scene at its finest – the kind of sympathetic, respectful collaboration in which already-strong artists move each other forward together – a magic we hope you'll share on titles that include "AF", "Reflections", "No Side Effects", "JJ", "Soprano Song", "In Response To", and "Blessed". LP, Vinyl record album

This trio of key contemporary AACM musicians from Chicago pay tribute to the organization's fifty years of shaping the sound of jazz – in a set that features their own unique interpretations of older compositions by older AACM members! The trio setting really seems inspirational all the way around – and the album's maybe some of the most striking work we've heard from all players in the last few years – a set that's able to swing straight one minute, but rejoice in freedom the next – all with that balance of structure and improvisation that we love in the music of Mike Reed! Reed's wonderfully dynamic on the drum kit – he seems to get better and better every year – and Nicole Mitchell is amazing on flute, and really takes the instrument past both conventional expressions, and even some of her own previous work. Tomeka Reid rounds the group out on cello, playing with much more of an edge here than usual – and titles include "Bernice/Days Fly By With Ruby", "BK", "The Clowns", "Have Mercy On Us", "Light On The Path", "Munkt Munk", and "Composition 23B". CD