Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky Trio DDR, Selb-Dritt

Petrowsky seems to be largely unknown in the U.S.—for example, he only has a Wikipedia page in German. His brand of avant-improv, at least on this record, owes a huge debt to American jazz. This drummerless trio starts with a fairly faithful reading of "Enfant", from Ornette on Tenor, and then continues to reference Ornette's early work as a launch-point for their playing. Combining this overt influence with the drummerless configuration remains surprising today, but Selb-Dritt feels otherwise fairly safe, with so many years perspective since it's 1981 release. It does feature fine playing and a cover painting that's hard to contextualize.