Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem invites British reedman John Surman and bassist Dave Holland to join him for his fourth ECM release, Thimar ("fruits" in Arabic). The trio offer chamber music of the most patient and worldly kind. Brahem seems to have arranged his music to allow his two collaborators to advance their personal voices without sacrifice of any kind.

Holland plays left, giving the trio its gentle velocity and faultless foundation while Brahem executes right with relaxed confidence eschewing the dazzling virtuosity he's capable of, while Surman's soprano sax, and particularly his bass clarinet, center, locate a tenor that helps to amplify the vaguely Mediterranean accent of Thimar. The pacing of jazz and Arab classical music dissolve into one another in a concise, contemplative and probing set of Brahem originals plus one each attributed to Surman and Holland.

An organic logic pervades the order of the improvisations and which instruments convey what information within a tune. Thimar presents a memorable array of solos, duos and trios, sometimes occurring all within the same piece. An extra dimension of interest, not atypical for ECM, develops out of subverting the idea of recital by a linear division a piece among different pairs of players, periodically visiting trio and solo configurations along the way. It is this thoughtful organization of unhurried melodies and the frequently solemn or pensive air presented that mark Thimar as one of the most satisfying recordings issued from the German label in some time. Superb sound too. - Steve Taylor