Though most dumb jazz fans might be completely unaware, the cabal of musicians associated with Michigan’s Brokenresearch label – John Olson, Ben Hall, Aaron Siegel, Hans Buetow, Chris Riggs, Nate Wooley – have done more to advance the language of free jazz over the past five years than any of the more lauded players of their generation. Despite their background having more to do with The New Blockaders then the New Thing, they have re-worked jazz from the inside out, focussing on actual playing, on subtlety as much as scorch. Indeed, Graveyards have minted a form of group playing that draws as much from 20^th century classical traditions, new minimalism and the aesthetics of drone as much as fire music. And along the way they’ve attracted some of the more open-minded and still-adventurous first generation free jazz thinkers to their cause. When Anthony Braxton hooked up with Wolf Eyes at Victoriaville it felt like a major meeting of minds and a two-way legitimisation. This new double LP set, presented in stunning deluxe style with a glossy gatefold sleeve that’s as heavy and high-class as anything from the Shadoks label and 180g vinyl, feels just as seismic in its repercussions, uniting two generations of outward bound sound. No one sounds like Dixon on the trumpet and his subtle use of delay and the way that the arc of his lines seems to imply an orchestral architecture that supports the weight of his ideas is absolutely unique. There’s a sense of muted drama to the interactions, an implication of endless space. But percussionist Hall (who plays in Graveyards with John Olson) and Siegel are equally architectural in their playing. Hall is particularly revelatory here. Having studied under Dixon he understands just how time-focussed or time-specific Dixon’s conceptions are, not in terms of rhythm, but in terms of how they unfold in a way that almost feels like a slow camera pan out from specifics – tones, timbres, melodies – in order to capture the overall arc of the piece. Hall’s drums are tonal, deep, reverberant, at points sounding almost like timpani, like muffled thunder, the perfect partner to Dixon’s smeared trumpet sound. And Siegel positions himself as some kind of conduit between the two, a conductor of low earth tones and higher, almost vocal-based inflections. There’s a sense of drama to the playing, a sense of thought reified in sound, that is uniquely thrilling. I can’t think of another group that can so consistently maintain such a high-wire state without ever breaking and falling back into rote phrases or mere energy playing. A milestone free jazz record, a key recording in all of the players’ back catalogues and a classic private press side. Highly recommended.