While the addition of percussion player Ayantola indicates one way to stretch the parameters of Brennan's music, notably in the free-form solo preamble of the opening “scissor bump” (until 4.31), these performances ultimately sound diffuse, thin and flat in contrast to the trio gig recorded at CB’s Gallery in NYC 24 days earlier. One imagines that context is all. The sonics sound in fuller, sharper focus, and the music gains in grandeur as the sound of enclosure conveys the confines of a more intimate, living, interactive space. The ears respond to a closer, warmer sound and a much improved acoustic definition. There’s a terse kick here palpable in the interplay between Baker and Brennan when the stop-start descending triplet motif of “scissor bump” generates genuine dramatic tension. In fact, the bite in Brennan's playing makes these improvisations compelling in a manner that I did not associate with his music in the past. Bass player Greene sustains a solo bass prelude over five minutes in “covert” that he resolves into a sequence of staccato phrases, until the drums enter around 5:12 and Brennan’s alto circa 5:50 when the players fabricate garrulous, looser dialogue. The same fiery spirit animates “which way what” and makes this trio session among the freshest I have heard in some time.

- David Lewis
http://www.cadencebuilding.com

Cadence Magazine - February 2005 - p. 105

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