Heavyweight UK improvisers Orphy Robinson and Pat Thomas conceived Black Top in 2011 as an open-ended duo augmented by a series of guests. On these two hour-long sets recorded live at Cafe OTO, they're joined by the stellar US rhythm section of Hamid Drake and William Parker, plus British vocalist Elaine Mitchener, for a trans-Atlantic summit that vibrates with wild energy from start to finish. In the company of one of the truly great backlines in jazz, Thomas unfurls some of his most deeply lyrical musings to date, building to frenetically pounded, splay-fingered chords as bass and drums turn up the heat for a crashing free-jazz tumult. Mitchener is a hyperactive presence, channelling Jeanne Lee as ululations, hiccups, cartoonish baby talk and soulful crooning pour forth in a torrent of invention. But what really lifts this above the average is the unit's ability to switch seamlessly into diasporic pan-global grooves: a deep reggae vibe bubbles up out of nowhere; Parker picks up a Moroccan guimbri, joined by Robinson's marimba for a lilting Fourth World jam; Drake's frame drum and devotional song invite reedy shehnai calls from Parker, seeded with B-movie sci-fi electronics. This 21st century melting pot is brimming over with thrills.