Spontaneous Rex, "The Early Adventures of Pro Fresh" (self-released)

Five years ago, Seattle quartet Spontaneous Rex sent me a CD-R with the band name and track titles scribbled on the disc with a Sharpie. Over three decades in the music-criticism biz have conditioned me to expect little from such artifacts. But Spontaneous Rex’s Come at the King shocked the jadedness right out of me with four epic excursions into the loftier strata of jazz fusion, prog rock, and electronic improv. Touchstones include Miles Davis’s Get Up with It, Sonny Sharrock’s ’70s output, and the vertiginous melodies and complicated rhythms of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever.

Since then, Spontaneous Rex—Jake Sele (piano/keyboards), Matt Williams (guitar), Moe Weisner (bass), and Kyle Doran (drums)—have been playing around town semi-regularly, but "The Early Adventures of Pro Fresh" is their first release in five years. The good news? This is Spontaneous Rex's best jam yet. Its 12 minutes encompass the turbulent funk of Miles Davis's jagged, early-'70s peak; the serpentine guitar flame-outs of Larry Coryell from that same era; labyrinthine, Jaco Pastorius-like bass lines; and spacey meditations that propel you to the Grateful Dead's "Dark Star." It's quite the circuitous journey to the peripheries of your (blown) mind. Listen below.

The single release party for Spontaneous Rex's "The Early Adventures of Pro Fresh" happens Thursday, July 18, at the Sunset Tavern, with Spyn Reset and Mōtus supporting.