Jason Crane interviews composer and guitarist Joel Harrison. With The Wheel (innova, 2008), Harrison straddles the line between written and improvised music, composing for an ensemble made up of a string quartet and jazz quintet. The results are surprising and powerful. The majority of the album is composed of the five-movement suite “The Wheel,” and the record ends with the moving tribute, “In Memoriam: Dana Brayton.”

CONTEST: Listen to the show to hear how you can win a copy of the The Wheel!