Rempis Percussion Quartet

In order to keep a jazz group fresh, changes in its lineup are usually a fact of life. Musicians start finishing each other’s sentences, annoyances get amplified and God knows what else makes doing something as personal as improvising start to feel more difficult than it need be. As for the Rempis Percussion Quartet, like several local free-jazz groups now gigging steadily, we are starting to hear the fruits of sustained interaction.

Its third release—a live double-disc feast of the kind of “energy jazz” for which saxophonist Dave Rempis is known—shows RPQ developing a more varied and personal dialogue. A lapsed classical saxophone major at Northwestern many years ago, Rempis has the refined tone necessary to dart in and out of the jazz tradition. The final cut, “Larks and Loons,” even invokes the hummingbird sax of Stan Getz, as traditionala voice as you’ll hear in the avant-garde. Likewise, the twin percussion Svengalis of Tim Daisy and Frank Rosaly—who, between them, probably tally eight jazz performances per week in Chicago—toss off atmospheric cymbal washes as readily as they do terrific Afro-Cuban vamps and tart forays into swing.

As is often the case, titles take on meanings well after the recording (the date was recorded at the Columbia, South Carolina venue The Hunter-Gatherer). This one seems immediately appropriate, though; after foraging the landscape of improvised music, RPQ seems to have brought home plenty to eat.

Rempis Percussion Quartet plays the Immediate Sound Series at Hideout Wednesday 10.