The saxophone-guitar-drums trio format, established most definitively by drummer Paul Motian, is a loose, collaborative setting that can be particularly revealing of the musicians involved. Here, the under-rated UK saxophonist Martin Speake gets into some intense three-cornered conversations with guitarist Mike Outram and drummer Jeff Williams, and the result is one of Speake's most personal and revealing recordings to date. Most of the material on the two discs is original, but it's the few standards that tell all. Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered in particular pays explicit homage to Motian's trio, and also admits Speake's debt to the great altoist Lee Konitz. Both men share an almost willful refusal to play the obvious, and the results, while not always pretty, are fresh and honest.
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