After a lifetime of drumming in the bands of such jazz innovators as Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy, New Orleans native Ed Blackwell wanted to lead his own band, a goal he managed to accomplish in the last few years of his life. This new release, recorded at the Ed Blackwell Project's final concert, just two months before the master drummer's death in the fall of 1992, features his longtime associates Carlos Ward on alto sax and flute and Mark Helias on contrabass and newcomer Graham Haynes on cornet.

From the moment that Helias' opening ostinato bass phrases slide the quartet into gear on Ward's "'Nette," Blackwell dances across his drum set with his own joyous mixture of parading New Orleans street beats, fiery be-bop swing and a deeply African musical sense that is as melodic as it is rhythmic. Each of the six songs is built around melodic themes that offer darkly beautiful, blues-inflected motifs for the forthcoming improvisations while simultaneously displaying an understated polyrhythmic finesse.

Ornette Coleman has referred to his own work as harmolodic music. The Blackwell Project concentrate on "rhythmelodic" music, in which the line separating rhythm and melody is so constantly reinterpreted that it simply disappears. Inevitably, this rhythmelodic orientation presents itself most effectively in the improvisations. Check out Ward's bluesy solo on his tune "Pettiford Bridge," where his lucid, pulsating lines fold and refold, building with frenetic grace into a complete reassembly of the song.

Although Haynes, the junior member of the group, lacks the confidence of his more experienced compatriots, his fat tone and rhythmic inventiveness make for stimulating group interplay. On Helias' "Beau Regard," for example, with Blackwell alternating between a slow-measured swing and a double-time African tom-tom groove, the powerhouse bassist pushes the music forward in a dramatic, delightful slow dance that prompts Haynes to offer his most self-assured solo. The occasional lengthiness of some of the solos on What It is? is overcome by the twin ethic of communication and celebration that informs the entire affair and that, in the end, is the lasting signature of Blackwell's playing.

What It Is? is available from Enja Records, c/o Koch International, 177 Cantiague Rock Rd., Westbury, NY 11590. (RS 679)

RODD MCLEOD