When Tim Berne recorded with Snakeoil for ECM in 2012, it marked the debut of a new working band and his first studio album in a decade. With Oscar Noriega on clarinets, pianist Matt Mitchell, and drummer Ches Smith, Berne was able to extend the horizons in his compositions. While conversational intrigue, fiery improvisation, knotty counterpoint, and wildly varying dynamics had long been part of his aesthetic, they found a fluid yet immediate language on 2013's Shadow Man.