In Chicago, Sun Ra compositions rank as repertoire with chimerical improv being the lingua franca. Ample evidence comes on the quartet recording by Nature Work, helmed by the city’s Greg Ward on alto saxophone and Jason Stein on bass clarinet. Splitting up writing duties on the tracks here, the pair invites experimentally inclined bassist Eric Revis and exploratory drummer Jim Black to round out the group, adding some New York gravitas to the proceedings. But Nature Work just sounds like Chicago, smartly penned heads sitting alongside patches of emotionally wrought blowing. - DownBeat Magazine Editors' Pick
