Issued in 1997 on PSF, the live album by the Poly Breath Percussion Band is an exercise in skronk, rhythm, and groove. Featuring Shoji Hano on traps and talking drums; Megumu Nishino on an elaborate array of electronic drums, electronics, and traditional Japanese percussion instruments; Tetsu Yamachi on electric bass; and the totally amazing alto talents of veteran improviser and free jazzer Keizo Inoue (electronica pioneer Tetsu's father), this band in a live setting is just plain dangerous…

Ever since the days of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, electric guitar/bass guitar/drums trios have primarily been vehicles for rock music. They are comparatively rare in jazz, and rarer in free improvised music. Those that do exist often blur the boundaries with rock, using its vocabulary but not its syntax or vice versa. Because of its rock legacy, the format itself attracts players who have affinities with rock…