SUSPENDING TIME Working together. BASIL RAMSEY listens to Richard Stoltzman and Nexus BIS-CD-1108

Group improvisation has a quality implicit in the integration of its players' sensitivity. Individuals all, they are committed to a music that is drawn from them collectively to be part of the whole. Only by working in unity may the improvisation draw strength to stand alone.

Nexus has a world-class reputation, and here with Richard Stolzman as a brilliant partner there are a dozen or so improvisations from two minutes to six or seven. Whilst it is unlikely to find any standard development, the pieces have their own decisive character and flow. For those who prefer nice, fat tunes, and predictable periods of development, there is no point in struggling with this. Listeners who allow their senses to do otherwise, the experience induces time to stand still, or - at any rate - to discourage us from clock watching. Should you cultivate the habit of allowing sounds to wash over you, these tracks will cooperate most agreeably. [Listen, track 1, 00:00 - 00:40.]

To listen to the aural illustrations in this review, you may need to download RealNetworks' realplayer G2.