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Flow Trio - Set Theory, Live at the Stone

Clifford Allen, Signal To Noise

Tenor and soprano saxophonist Louie Belogenis, known for his work in the bands of drummer Rashied Ali and Sunny Murray, explores the language of Ayler and Coltrane within a spacious chamber aesthetic. Flow Trio is a group he co-leads with bassst Joe Morris and drummer Charles Down (Rashid Bakr), and Set Theory is their third disc to date. While their music is captivatingly energetic, this isn't just a "power trio": listen, for instance, to the sinewy West African trance that concludes the half-hour title piece, Morris and Downs spry and locked-in beside soft, curling soprano. "InfinTrinity" hews closer to Ayler with its yawning, gravelly tenor, but the harmonic bedrock supplied by Morris's arco bass and Downs's skittering, upended beat contributes to a relaxed pan-tempo feel. A stripped-down pizzicato bass solo leads into a velvety nocturne, Morris and Downs' minimalist rattle undergirding sandblasted stoicism. After a brief tenor-drums duet, in which Downs' response is measured enough to be nearly silent, a tenor scream clears the air for a gutsy reprise. Set Theory combines group listening and anabashed power.