After settling down with the shifting ascending / descending scales of Persian E, Time Groove is where the duo really lock into something extra special and begin creating a distinctive personal space. Fripp rattles off chorus after chorus of ecstatic runs and flurries all imbued with a kind of longing; that special, ineffable mixture of heartache and beatific revelation. After a rather fitful Queer Jazz, and a Mission Possible which flirts with Oyster Soup in the opening throws, the gig is brought to a conclusion by a somewhat stately End Time. Here Belew’s hypnotic beats rumble and tumble against waves of soundscapes, from which Fripp issues a series of open-ended melodic lines. There’s a slight degree of digital crackle here and there but this shouldn’t impair your enjoyment. If you had to chose just one show from the four this might well be the one.
