Chance recordings can be fruitful -- that's the lesson to be learned here. Bassist Barre Phillips, saxophonist Michel Doneda (still unknown outside France at that time), and drummer Alain Joule entered the studio on February 17, 1992, to record some ballet music the leader had been commissioned to write. In order to help recording engineer Gérard de Haro set up and get an idea of what they sounded like, they started playing. Two free improvisations were captured for a total of 31 minutes. This trio was still very fresh: One can hear how some moves from a musician surprise the others. Yet, since there was no obligation to "perform," the session followed an unusually relaxed mood. The result is not Phillips' most essential music, but it documents the group at an early stage and features some pretty good free improvising, while adding a title to Joule's too-short list. Considering the circumstances, both pieces show high levels of involvement, cohesion, and excitement. To bring the album to CD length, seven excerpts from the ballet music recorded afterwards were added. Here, the trio follows the bassist's preconceived ideas. The short pieces (two to five minutes) focus on atmospheres: staccatos in "Sextaddendum," a slightly Arabic lyricism in "Terzarolladendum," a jazz vamp in "Septiddendum." Followers of Phillips will be glad these tapes were rediscovered a few years later; avant-garde jazz and free improv fans will find No Pieces sympathetically enjoyable.