Parliament's proclamation that "funk not only moves, it can remove" is apropos for Mirakle. For just as the Philadelphia-rooted rhythm pair of bassist Jamaaldeen Tacuma and drummer Calvin G. Weston continually seeks an in-motion, funky floor on Mirakle, guitarist Derek Bailey snarls, tangles, and bends every bit of motion, as if to trouble the musical dialogue. Just as he did on Guitar, Drums 'n' Bass, he tinkers here with the electric bass and drums formula that underlies legions of jazz-envelope pushers. When Tacuma sounds like he could be on a harmony-melody jag à la Ornette Coleman's Prime Time, Bailey tugs at Weston to break it down, fracturing time and dynamics with wry, distorted compressions of phrase. Bailey has made a ritual of improvising in unusual contexts, and this one ranks with his oddest. It's a blast to hear, first for the dialogues across the funk idiom, and second for the energy the trio expends individually and as a whole. --Andrew Bartlett