This wonderfully accessible collection of live performances includes the entire LP Con Fuoco, along with several pieces from other hard to find records. As usual, the trio is in peak form, with great playing, lots of fun, and wonderful interaction. The music for Con Fuoco was recorded in 1979, and the tape had to be literally smuggled out of the former Soviet Union to reach Western ears. This CD is distinguished by a couple of standards: "Summer Time" and "Mack the Knife," each played with the characteristic humor of the group. The other seven numbers are delightfully whimsical, with
Vladimir Chekasin in especially good form on whatever he happens to playing at the moment: bassett horn, alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet, wooden flute, ocarina, pipes, percussion, or even his voice. Add Vladamir Tarasov's wacky percussion and leader
Ganelin's piano (and even electric guitar), and you've got the ingredients for a zany, wild set of free-style Russian jazz.