The release of a new album by the Revolutionary Ensemble should come as a shock to many. From their start in the ‘70s they were a mysterious band. They were one of the first string bands to record free jazz. They were a cooperative trio made up of three very individual composers. They mixed chamber music with free jazz and funneled it all through the philosophy of the AACM. Their recordings were on small and often hard-to-find labels or self-released, for the most part. Their one major label release was on Horizon Records; a label owned by A&M that was designed to release class projects. Soon though the label folded and the catalog went out of print. Within a few years the band dissolved and with them their recorded output faded away. Fast-forward 27 years and suddenly the band emerge again as if time had stopped. This year has seen the re-release of The Psyche, an album that had originally come out on their own RE Records; a sold out standing-room performance at the Vision Festival in NYC in May; and now a new studio album. As in the past, the album is made up of compositions from all three members. The album opens with Sirone’s "Berlin Erfahrung." The piece has a lovely, hummable melody that carries it throughout. The center of the album is "911-544," a five-piece suite by Jerome that opens the palette of the album up sonically. The album closes with a piece of mini chamber music in "Ism Schism." Graceful yet cutting, the album sounds matured in a way that their output from the ‘70s didn’t. Perhaps it is the improved sound quality, or the time and experience that have filled their playing, but somehow the time apart seems to have cemented the group’s focus and direction. The challenge of playing avant-garde string music has reached a new level and the sound of the cooperative trio has come together to be more than the three individuals were on their own.