**** Trio Hurricane

LIVE AT FIRE IN THE VALLEY

(Eremite)

One of the best concerts of 1997 is now one of the best releases of 1998. The fire-breathing Trio Hurricane -- tenor-saxophonist Glenn Spearman, bassist William Parker, and drummer Paul Murphy -- made one previous album 10 years ago, a tribute to Jimmy Lyons, and hadn't played together since, but at Amherst's annual all-day free-jazz fest, Fire in the Valley, they picked up where they left off in a set played with life-or-death intensity.

The energy level is impressive, but it's the band's rapport and the tight focus, concentration, and discipline of the music that makes the album extraordinary. Spearman's urgency is of Biblical proportions, and his tenor jeremiads of blisteringly fast runs, choppy short phrases, squeals, and white-hot sounds are delivered with righteous wrath that burns like coals. But the intellectual passion balances the emotional power of his solos. "Blues for John and Frank" and the blistering "N.Y.N.Y.," are towering, even terrifying performances. Bassist Parker is the most consistently inventive player on any instrument in contemporary free jazz, and he outdoes himself here: his bowed lamentation on "Tones for William" is a highlight. Murphy is one of the more obscure figures in free jazz, but he deserves more credit for his powerful and responsive trap work. This is an essential document.

-- Ed Hazell