Free Jazz was evident at the recital hall of Los Angeles Harbor College on Saturday, March 3rd; the perfectly-designed auditorium has room for 204 people, but only 12 showed up this night. Vibraphonist Brad Dutz led a trio and multi-instrumental Vinny Golia led a duo for two one-hour sets of creative improvised music that varied in its delivery, but never eased up in intensity. The trio was Dutz on vibes, marimba, and tubanos, Kim Richmond on alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet, and bass clarinet, and Joel Hamilton on acoustic bass. The duo was Golia on Chinese flute, shakuhachi, alto flute, contrabass clarinet, piccolo, and bari sax and John Bergamo on frame drums.

The program opened with the title number from Dutz' latest album, "Railroads," and another Dutz composition "Hanging Foliage." Dutz moved back and forth from vibes to marimba and led the trio with nods and gestures. "Railroads" included a sostenuto bass line beneath the weaving melodic patterns established by the vibes and clarinet. The duo of Golia and Bergamo followed with two pieces that matched the timbre of the contrabass clarinet to the larger frame drum, and the shakuhachi to the smaller frame drum. Golia, with his frequent use of circular breathing, builds tension and maintains the fierce pace throughout. The frame drums lend both rhythmic balance and special effects through the many different ways that Bergamo approaches the instrument. When tapping with fingers, he has in his arsenal hundreds of variations of position and intensity. An alternative method of creating sound from the frame drum is rubbing the drum's head with a rubber mallet, which produces a sustained tone for melodic purposes.

On "Spiny Newt" Dutz moved from vibes to marimbas to tubanos (a pair of fiberglass conga-like drums with openings at the lowest part of the sides for an enhanced sound) while Golia joined the trio with contrabass clarinet to blend aptly with the bass clarinet of Richmond. With the changes the leader made in his choice of instruments, the piece changed from a slow ballad to a lively Latin number to a slower classically-tinged composition. The trio closed the first set with Richmond on alto sax for "Wiggler." As with the previous number, this one gave a Latin feel through use of the tubanos, and a lot of cohesiveness on the part of the the three musicians.

"Torn Apart" featured the duo and trio combined, with Richmond using the soprano sax and Golia using the piccolo. It was an opportunity for the two percussionists to join forces for a swinging rhythmic 6/4 beat in support of the improvisations being manifested. After another piece by the duo of Bergamo and Golia on a rollicking powerful baritone sax, the trio performed "Soybean Capital." Richmond picked up the clarinet for this one and Hamilton picked up the bow for a flowing piece that rippled slowly, like the waves caused by the force of the wind on agricultural fields. Special guest David Johnson, on vibes, joined the five program members to form a sextet for the final number, "Residue Of Essence." Brad Dutz called it an "ostinato and a melody and a very free composition." The result was a constantly changing scenario, as the musicians changed instruments to express their ideas with different timbres. The ensemble was small enough that each distinct voice could be heard, and the variety of the instrumentation was cause for dynamic changes in the meaning of the piece. It was a thrilling finale; each member improvising in free form while keeping a close eye toward the cohesiveness of the whole.