**** Jemeel Moondoc Trio

TRI-P-LET

(Eremite)

The disciplined intelligence of this trio of "free jazz" improvisers should forever shatter the stereotype that "free" playing is formless meandering. Each of the five lengthy compositions here possesses a tightly logical structure. Points of reference and organizing principles include repeated triplet motifs (in the title tune), the blues (in postmodern, deconstructed guises), and Ornette Coleman's sense of song form.

But the thrill of this session is most conveyed through sheer grandeur of sound: Moondoc's alto sax, all sinewy, liquidy, and angular; John Voigt's highly resonant and probing bass lines; Laurence Cook's freewheeling drum colors. When the forceful beauties of their sounds combine to convey a surprisingly linear narrative ("Ruby's Riches" is a musical tale of a woman who gradually learns to trust a lover after her heart and not her wealth), we're presented with an overwhelming emotional drama. This album is a spectacular showcase of players in love with the aesthetic and spiritual adventure of high-level improvisation.

-- Norman Weinstein