Now!

This quartet of East Village elders — trumpeter Roy Campbell, Jr., saxophonist Daniel Carter, bassist William Parker, and drummer Rashid Bakr — released a self-titled debut album in 1990, then remained a strictly live phenomenon for eight years. This, their second release, from 1998, is a triumphant, fully improvised testament to their collective language. The horns dance together in the manner of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, but the bass and drums surge like the ocean. The music is passionate without ever rising to a scream, and celebratory even during ballads.