by Alex HendersonCello players are abundant in classical music, but in jazz, they've been a rarity. One jazzman who made the cello his primary instrument in the '90s was Erik Friedlander. Even if the New Yorker used his cello for nothing but straight bebop tunes, standards and Charlie Parker classics, he would be doing something unusual because there isn't a lot of history of bop being played on the cello. But Friedlander is no retro-bopper -- his music is challenging, cerebral avant-garde jazz that favors an inside/outside approach and sometimes incorporates funk and Middle Eastern elements. Joined by alto saxophonist Andy Laster, electric bassist Stomu Takeishi and percussionist Satoshi Takeishi, Friedlander takes his share of chances on Topaz. When his cohesive quartet embraces the angular "Three Desperate Men," the quirky "Verdine" (which was presumably named after Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire, a band he admires) and the abstract "Hat And Beard," you're hearing a group that isn't confining itself to jazz's mainstream. Topaz, like a lot of avant-garde jazz, isn't easy to absorb on the first listen. But the more times you listen, the more you realize how much this left-of-center CD has going for it.