Aside from the natural beauty, relative political conservatism (except for Portland, Eugene & Seattle), and high percentage of rainfall, one doesn't hear much about the Pacific Northwest, at least in regard to its homegrown creative music scene. (Wayne Horvitz and Bill Frisell migrated there from NYC, fyi.) Darn shame, that -- Michael Bisio, for one, is a one fine acoustic bassist and bandleader in an heir-to-the-late-master-Mingus fashion, and on this trio date, he's flanked by a most impressive brass-wielding TDWR (that's downBeat code for Talent Deserving Wider Recognition), Rob Blakeslee. Bisio has a round-sounding, heavy yet nimble tone (a la the Charlie-men: Haden & Mingus), and he's not shy about using his axe as a "lead" instrument, playing melodic lines with judicious (& edgy) use of bowing. Rob B has his own sound, to be sure, but there are undeniable echoes of Lester Bowie and Bobby Bradford. Not to sleight the fellow in the drum/percussion chair: Greg Campbell plays with wonderful subtlety and restraint. The eight pieces here are rather spacious and fairly free, and while you probably won't be humming them in the shower, there's drive and focus (no excess or gratuitous improv's; the three play as a unit, not just "at the same time") and lyricism, albeit of the abstract sort.(Though not vague or formless; there are hard-bop undertones here.) Those diggin' the goods served-up in the delis of the LA free music scene (i.e., Vinny Golia, Jon Rapson, etc.) and the AACM (especially Henry Threadgill's Air, W. Leo Smith & the aforementioned Lester B) are hereby urged to put this on their "short list" of discs-to-invest-in.