Ophiuchus Butterfly

Very modern jazz, accessible but packed with what you could call 21st-century attitude: really twisty writing, occasional noise experiments (3,10), and unconventional structures. Not a difficult listen but lots of fast twists permeate some compositions; Tim Berne's stuff would be a good comparison, but this feels more kinetic, like a molecule lightly bouncing off padded walls.

Ellman himself spins speedy, fluid guitar solos that tangle through jazz changes like he's translating another language. Steve Lehman on sax adds a futuristic (albeit acoustic) touch with his fast stacatto lines. Mark Shim on tenor sax tethers things back to earthier conventional jazz.

1- Marshmallow cannon fire of mid/fast burst notes stacked with counterpoint. Upbeat twisty post-bop, a nice attention-getter.
2- Slow, w/*really* warbling sax solo. Lovely melodies later.
3- A long shimmer; floating ethereal tones.
4- Easygoing start, into midtempo stumbling and fast solos
5- Mid/fast, some complex overlapping lines
6- Zen synth bells, into a cool rhythmic jam. Relaxed, angular sax lines atop
7- Weirdly violin-like intro. Cartoony march theme, mid/fast. Cool trading sax solos, then a drum solo and slowish end
8- Tuneful but fast and twisty. Mid/fast.
9- Cascading falling lines, midtempo. Tuba solo! Later, crazy *fast* sax solos chase each other.
10- Noise: Slow, grinding, understated