** JIM HALL “Textures” TelArc

Mark this as one of Hall’s stranger outings. Given free rein to come up with a group of compositions largely written for either string or brass ensembles, Hall has come up with works that hark back to the Third Stream music of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s.

Hall is an effective orchestrator who handles the ensemble passages with considerable skill, conjuring up interesting harmonic textures and some appropriately contemporary twittering string sounds. But this territory--especially in the avant-garde pathways--already has been well explored. And, short of occasional solos from Hall, Joe Lovano and Claudio Roditi, Hall doesn’t add much to a musical arena that, at its best, had limited appeal.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).