Misha Mengelberg (1997)

"Recorded live at Bologna's Angelica Festival in May 1996, this disc presents an opportunity to appreciate Misha Mengelberg as both pianist (in two typical incarnations, an extended improvisation and one of his charmingly angular jazz compositions) and composer (the orchestral piece "Sulla Strada" and the saxophone concerto). "Viva Angelica" is one of Mengelberg's rambling half-hour solo improvisations in which the pianist investigates everything from Feldman-esque clusters to quasi-Baroque polyphony. Mengelberg takes impish delight in bending the rules of voice-leading, with quietly anarchic results. The closing ballad, whose title translates as "Romantic Leap of Hares," is Mengelberg at his most delightfully Monkish. Of Misha Mengelberg's originality and talent there can be no doubt."(Allmusic)