Trumpeter Jeff Kaiser's fiercely independent record label pfMENTUM has scored big once again with its latest release by trombone virtuoso Michael Vlatkovich titled Pershing Woman--Vlatkovich Tryyo.

This disc represents the state-of-the-art in free-trombone, and small group improvising aesthetics. Vlatkovich is a master of timbre-manipulation, free-swinging ideas and compositions that create a laboratory for musical interaction.

Supported in this endeavor by the highly creative cello work of Jonathan Golove and the barely-containable drum dynamics of Damon Short, Pershing Woman will knock your head back from beginning to end.

Opening with the insistent free-bop repetitions of "Our Costumes Should Tell Us...," Vlatkovich's sing-song Ornette Coleman-esque theme is buttressed by the low-end pizzicato of Golove and Short's sublime combo-plate of wicked cymbal pings and over the top martial cadences, which spur the trombonist into a wide-ranging, alternately furious and considered solo.

Vlatkovich's rippling multi-phonics layer over the loose-limbed drum-chatter in "Black Triangles Yellow Corn and Pink Medicine Drops," while Golove's nagging ostinato holds it all together.

"I Let My Magic Tortoise Go," is all turbulent fanfare--guided by the relentless drum dialog of Short and the dark arco moans of the cello.

At 12:18, "The Imponderable Hiding In Extra-Large Clothing," is sprawling, episodic and as funny as its title. Featuring pinpoint free-bop unisons the melody yields to a wild cello solo that manages to swing by sheer confidence. Short's brush-strokes keep the whole thing moving forward while Vlatkovich places violent repetitions and wide vibrato on top. Short throws it all in for his drum essay-- setting off a series of explosive accents that plays like a shoot-out in Gasoline Alley.

Every cut on this disc rocks, struts and swings like a "mo-fo". Essential listening for adventurous music lovers.