Time Is of the Essence

1	Arc of the Pendulum 8:59
2	Sound Off 6:04
3	Half Past Late 7:54
4	Timeline 6:05
5	The Morning of This Night 7:42
6	Renaissance Man 8:36
7	Dr. Slate 7:40
8	As I Am 6:49
9	Outrance 10:08

Barnes & Noble

History is littered with the detritus of slapped-together all-star projects, featuring improvisers unfamiliar with the predispositions of their session mates, that fizzled out in the studio. That's decidedly not the case on TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE, on which state-of-the-art tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker explores the ample sonic field of an organ-guitar-drums support unit. Hammond B3 futurist Larry Goldings and guitar icon Pat Metheny frame the tenorist's flint-hard declamations, while elder statesman drum innovator Elvin Jones, and two of his descendants -- Jeff Watts and Bill Stewart, cutting-edge tradition piggybackers with their own trapset dialects -- sculpt the flow in ongoing rhythmic dialogue. Brecker offers nine originals marked by clear melodies and complex, logical forms. An amazingly consistent soloist, he plays with characteristic blue-flame-to-white-heat clarity and a tone whose muscularity is less buff and more fluid than some years back. Goldings, a proactive comper and imaginative soloist, trumps the leader's ideas and tosses out intriguing postulations; Metheny, an infrequent visitor to the organ function, plays with a bluesy feel and spare discretion. But the payoff is Brecker's dance to the vivid beats of his different drummers -- all in spot-on form -- for three selections apiece. Each drum man strikes sparks that elevate the proceedings to something much more than just another routinely well played date. Brecker's third consecutive release devoted to full-bore improvising, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE shows a hungry 50-year-old master searching for -- and often reaching -- the next level. Ted Panken

All Music Guide

Michael Brecker introduced a couple of new wrinkles to his sound on his sixth album, in the form of two new sidemen. Larry Goldings' organ makes for an unusual quartet -- also including Brecker on tenor sax, frequent guest Pat Metheny on guitar, and one of three different drummers -- in that there is no bass. As a result, Metheny often fills in that role when he isn' t soloing. Goldings' touch is light, in contrast to the more intense playing of Brecker and Metheny. But it is the second new sideman who makes a difference: Elvin Jones guests on drums on three tracks. Brecker had never shied away from announcing his influences, and with Jones behind the traps, especially on the opening track, "Arc of the Pendulum," and the closer, "Outrance" (both Brecker originals), he indulges his affection for John Coltrane, playing freely and aggressively across the rhythm. Jones, who gets a showcase solo in "Outrance," is unmistakable, and his support often makes Brecker sound like Coltrane. With Bill Stewart behind the drums, the group performs "Renaissance Man," a tribute to another major Brecker influence, Eddie Harris, and Brecker unabashedly recalls Harris there. The tunes, five by Brecker, two by Metheny, and one each by Goldings and producer George Whitty, are loosely structured and run from six to ten minutes each, so that the disc runs 70 minutes. Clearly, they could have gone longer: Several of them fade out, sometimes during a Brecker or Metheny solo, an oddity on a jazz album. William Ruhlmann