Fragments

If you want to know the true meaning of “chamber jazz,” let Paul Bley’s Fragments be its living definition. The pianist coaxes from multi-reedist John Surman, guitarist Bill Frisell, and drummer Paul Motian a sound of such adhesive quality that even listeners who prefer a groove will find themselves stuck to it. There’s something soothing about the darkness of this music, which ebbs and flows along the shores of in-house material, as well as readings of Carla Bley and Annette Peacock. Surman’s lower reeds do these justice (and then some) as poetry of a lighter order swirls around his storytelling.