Chinatown

Chinatown is the self-titled début of a trio drawn from the diverse currents of New York's downtown improvising scene. It pairs the venerable free player Daniel Carter with a young, unique rhythm section — bassist and oud player Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz and percussionist Kevin Zubek. Carter plays tenor and alto saxophones, trumpet, flute and clarinet; Blumenkranz, bass and oud; Zubek, drums and percussion.

A familiar figure of the New York underground through his work in groups such as TEST and Other Dimensions In Music, Carter here works without other horns to spar with, free to develop his ideas at length. The set spans a wide range of mood and color across eleven tracks. The record opens with Carter blowing luscious, Coltranesque lines on tenor, but as this twelve-minute piece progresses he pushes outward into new and exotic phrasings; the remaining, comparatively brief tracks cover varied ground as he switches to trumpet, flute and clarinet. Blumenkranz's oud lends a Middle Eastern modal cast to several pieces, while Zubek's spacious, asymmetrical drumming sidesteps conventional jazz time