Lol Coxhill and Alex Ward – Old Sights New Sounds – Incus – INCUSCD61 - ****

Enter free improvisation's world of no tunes jazz through this gateway recording. Coxhill and Ward play soprano sax and clarinet respectively, both trustworthy blowing instruments, and the four decades age chasm between them reveals free improvisation as a shared language for both initiators and inheritors.

The cd sleeve uses cinematic conceits to expose the process – two men arrive at a Hackney house and hit record - and there's enough obvious technique on display in these seven intricate improvisations to convince doubters that these cats know where they're going, even if their final destination is not always obvious to the listener.

(17/7/11)