**** Cheap Suit

ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER DOLLAR

(Tautology)

Guitarist Peter Warren's free-improv unit has been haunting local clubs and galleries since 1994, but this colorful, wide-ranging live set from 1998 is their first release. Warren, drummer Curt Newton, bassist Nate McBride, and reed player Jeff Hudgins form the kind of group in which everyone can function as a drum and/or as a melodic instrument; what's more, the responsibilities for developing the music are shared equally. This democratic spirit makes "The Necessary Changes Have Been Made," the 35-minute piece that makes up the CD, richly varied and surprising; you never know who will instigate a new direction, and sometimes it's hard to tell exactly who is making what sound.

The set runs the gamut of free-improv strategies, from parallel linear improvisations to pure sound abstractions, and with the quartet spontaneously breaking up into duos and trios, the textures and colors are in constant motion. Warren's specially tuned guitar is particularly ear-catching, injecting into the music a microtonal twang that's very close to the blues. For all its mutability, the composition isn't rudderless. All four musicians are such close listeners with quick reflexes that each new development sounds organic. As soon as someone proposes a new avenue for the music to travel, the rest of the group are all over it.

-- Ed Hazell