NAAN TSO

Recorded five years after Foxes Fox, this quartet's debut (released under the musicians' separate names with Evan Parker in the lead position), Naan Tso brings listeners up to date on these sly improvisers' adventures together and serves as a farewell to drummer Louis Moholo, who moved back to Cape Town, South Africa, in September 2005, after decades spent in exile in England. Naan Tso features four improvisations recorded at Steve Lowe's Gateway Studios. The whole quartet is heard on three of these pieces; pianist Steve Beresford sits out the slightly shorter "Slightly Foxed." With seasoned improvisers such as Parker, Beresford, Moholo, and John Edwards, there is no need to worry. Though the music is free to (and does) go anywhere, the listener usually knows what to expect -- and Naan Tso does not disappoint: dynamic playing, fierce exchanges between tenor sax and piano, delicate work from bass and drums, and a willingness to share collective fun with the listener. Free or not, Moholo always had that certain swing in his fingers (listen to his ride cymbal in the first minutes of "Renard Pale," among other places). This jazziness permeates the music, crossing over from stage right to stage left to clash with Beresford's "classical pianist going through a breakdown" style. More often than not, that is the force field driving the music onward. Naan Tso may lack a bit in the surprise department, but it still offers a good, enjoyable session from a formation that has had very little exposure outside of England. You might want to get Foxes Fox first, though. ~ Francois Couture|