by Eugene Chadbourne The length of the individual tracks is the real surprise with this wonderful CD of hard-hitting contemporary jazz. It isn't that you would never hear pieces this short from the Schlippenbach trio; you would, but mostly just a single one as an evening's encore. The longest track here -- "Sun Luck: Revisited" at more than 16 minutes -- would be considered a shorty during a normal set by this group, which likes to build things up solidly and slowly, three cooks spicing up an all-day stew as the day goes on. A fun concept it is for them to record 11 of their own mini-bagatelles, and how easy to make it a really topnotch listening experience when you are a group with this much empathy. If you are going to put this group in the studio, and maestros Evan Parker, Paul Lovens, and Alexander Van Schlippenbach would probably all rather record live, then doing something like this is a great idea, a way to focus energy differently. There are a half dozen pieces here in the one and two minute range and these ultra short pieces are like musical fortune cookies, with fortunes that come true. Too bad one can't hear these on the hit parade.