For over thirty years Alvin Singleton has been devising compositions blending written music with improvisation in the restrictive world of contemporary concert music. His work skillfully joins the European tradition of Lutoslawski and Ligeti with the African American traditions of James Brown, Mahalia Jackson, John Coltrane, Dolphy and the AACM. His first CD for Tzadik features four compositions of chamber music, including his orchestral masterpiece Again, a duo for trumpet and piano brilliantly performed by long time associates Wadada Leo Smith and Anthony Davis, and the prize-winning string quartet Somehow We Can, one of his most energetic and dynamic compositions.