As the primary melodist, alto-saxophonist Pakula gains the most from Tristano, as was seen last month at the band's CD-release party at MIT's Killian Hall. On one of the Tristano numbers from the album, "Baby" (a variation on "Melancholy Baby"), Pakula's continuously evolving lines developed their own momentum and remained undisturbed even by Karayorgis's mutant stride-piano assaults. Pakula's dry, sibilant tone perfectly suits the composition's pensive mood, but his ironic wit saves him from sentimentality. He sounds more surprised by melancholy than absorbed in it. Pakula also excels at musical dialogue. His solos on "Out and Out," a Karayorgis original, and Lee Konitz's "Sub Conscious Lee" left lots of space for others to join in -- and he often let a bandmate's idea send him off on a tangent.

Whereas Pakula proceeds by little nudges, pianist Karayorgis is more likely to launch surprise attacks. His solo on Pakula's "Sudsy Pink" (the only jazz tune I know inspired by cheap dish soap) exploded in gales of atonal energy, which -- after his thoughtful elaborations of percussive Monkish figures and tartly dissonant chords -- threatened musical mayhem. But Karayorgis, who last year released In Time (Leo), a fine duet album with violinist Matt Maneri, never lets these gusts of notes destroy the integrity of his solos; they remain beautifully, if asymmetrically, whole. His willingness to push to extremes or do the unexpected severely tested the limits of the Tristano material. He deliberately dropped out of tempo on several occasions, most notably on "Sub Conscious Lee," and had listeners wondering how he would work back to speed. But even when Karayorgis hammers note clusters or plays hide-and-seek with the tempo, he thinks in terms of the overall performance. In this sense, he was true to the spirit, if not always the letter, of Tristano's music.

Bassist Nate McBride, also heard on the Joe Morris Trio's latest (and best) recording, Symbolic Gesture (Soul Note), and drummer John McLellan, heard on Made in the Shade's debut on Accurate, were sensitive listeners and equal partners in the live music. While keeping impeccable time, McBride fed the music with ideas rich in implications for the soloists. Pakula in particular responded to his playing all night. McLellan, though the least mature of the group (he overplays sometimes), also bristled with ideas that inspired the rest of the band. His brush work on "Sub Conscious Lee" was especially impressive.

In their willingness to take chances with the material, the Pandelis Karayorgis/Eric Pakula Quartet proved themselves more interested in the transformation of the jazz tradition than simply in preservation. And with their latest album striking out in new directions from their impressive debut, Between Speech and Song (Cadence), they're obviously committed to seeking challenges. Stay tuned.

-- Ed Hazell