Free improvisations that grooves from fuzz-bass and Canterbury icon Hugh Hopper and his latest project. For those who think that free jazz is inherently unapproachable, Numero D’Vol proves that it’s possible to be completely spontaneous while creating music with an instinctive focus. Saxophonist Simon Picard, keyboardist Steve Franklin and drummer Charles Hayward join Soft Machine Legacy’s Hopper for a session that proves there’s even room for a backbeat in purely improvised music. There’s also space for contemporary textures and a touch of ambient music as Franklin layers synth washes underneath his more oblique pianism. Picard, also a member of guitarist Phil Miller’s In Cahoots, brings an angular lyricism to this hour-long experiment in rhythm-based collective interaction.