Gil Evans's swan song finds him beside a single soloist rather than in front of a big band – but what a soloist. Steve Lacy, an occasional associate of Evans's for over thirty years, is the reigning master of the soprano sax, a methodical, full-blooded player who dissects and reassembles melodies like an impassioned surgeon. Evans's ultrasparse piano playing sketches poetic frames around his soul mate, suggesting space and balance in much the same way that his band arrangements did. Exploring compositions by Ellington and Mingus (Evans's only peers as arrangers) as well as Lacy originals, the two commune cerebrally but joyfully. Paris Blues may be reduced in size, but that only means it's a small masterpiece. (RS 545)

STEVE FUTTERMAN