IN BRIEF jazz

"Although John Tchicai's early years on the free jazz scene saw him caught up in the white heat of some of the wildest blowing sessions (being a member of both The New York Art Quartet and New York Contemporary Five, as well as a key player on Coltrane's Ascension), his playing has always been more about direct communication than earth-scorching brutality. Infinitesimal Flash teams him in a killer quartet of Francis Wong on tenor and flute, Adam Lane on bass and Mat Marucci on drums. Lane is particularly impressive, spinning dense waves of string-strum around Tchicai's keening lines. Marucci's drums are nicely tuned, setting off some deep thudding counter-melodies, while Wong's arrangement of the traditional "Autumn Moon" is a real highlight, with Tchicai and Wong dancing figures of eight around each other's breathy flute lines."

David Keenan