Sonny Simmons & Moksha Samnyasin, Nomadic

Sonny Simmons returns following upon the heels of an extended box set (type his name in the search box for that review post) with a more concentrated single CD. The backing trio is called Moksha Samnyasin. Nomadic (svart 331) once again dwells on a high plane of eastern-world-neo-psychedelic cosmics.

Sonny makes his presence known on cor anglais and alto sax; Thomas Bellier lays down the bottom on electric bass; Sebastien Bismuth appears on drums, percussion and electronics; and finally Michel Kristof comes up with some characteristic atmospheric lines on sitar.

This album continues where the other recent ones left off. It is electric, exploratory music with a key-centered world voltage. Sonny as before pares down his playing to the essentials, with the sort of modal excursions he has concentrated on lately. The band gives the music a three-dimensional sonic coloring that has rock-world-zoner connotations.

The music is loose, open and creative, with post-Milesian electricity but its own cosmic domain. If you don't expect to hear Sonny in his earlier incarnations and simply relax and flow along with the music you find yourself in good places throughout.

It may not be a masterpiece but it has direction and depth. That Sonny has in a way reinvented himself and managed to make a different music is a good thing. As long as you realize the earlier music is still out there to hear, you can open up to this music and appreciate it on its own terms. And you may well find yourself digging it. Listen.