When one thinks of free improvisation records, it is often of violent and dense playing full of screaming passages, or of wandering sound explorations. The quartet of violinist
Richard Carr, guitarist
Mike Nord, drummer
Georg Hofmann, and pianist
Art Maddox try a different approach. They listen closely to each other, react to each other's ideas, and do not reject tonal music, the use of space or melodic development. Each of the musicians has played with each other for at least a decade so they have a good idea as to the other players' sounds and abilities, but they were still out on a tightrope for
Biosphere. Recorded in a three-day period, the dozen group improvisations are continually surprising and contain plenty of variety. None of the ideas, which sometimes use repetition, overstay their welcome. It makes for fascinating listening.