It's rare to experience music that seems to strive toward complete immobility. Jeff Johnson's "Tall Stranger" has a staggering, strung-out pace that may drive some people crazy, but will surely delight others who resist our world's accelerating rate of input. All three legs of this trio (Johnson on bass, plus reedman Has Teuber and drummer Billy Mintz) have tireless storytelling chops. Johnson drawls out his solos like a grizzled medicine-show man after a dozen redeyes, and when Teuber switches from noodling tenor to bass clarinet, the colloquy among the three opens up profound depths by lowering the buzz of activity close to absolute zero. It's not a lazy crew. The illusion of space is carefully etched by three hypersensitive bandmates who seem to agree that the overt gesture is a symptom of the failure of imagination.