Recorded live in Donaueschingen, Germany at the Donaueschinger Musiktage, this performance of drummer Michael Wertmüller's jazz composition ‘Sketches And Ballads’ combines free form blast with the kind of jazz phrasing that Gil Evans introduced into Miles Davis' 1960s LP Sketches of Spain (an album that partly influenced Wertmüller's work here). Fronted by Full Blast, a trio made up of saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, e-bass player Marino Pliakas and Wertmüller on drums, they were joined by Ken Vandermark, Thomas Heberer and Dirk Rothbrust whose playing gave the piece a more elastic musical muscle to flex. With Brötzmann on board one might expect a full on free form blare, but instead ‘Sketches And Ballads’ calls for him to play in a more melancholic style, where he produces a flowing sound from his instrument that acts as the perfect balance to Wertmüller's almost rock driven score.