Toxic is a "project" trio led by Polish saxophonist Mal Walerian, consisting of himself, pianist Matthew Shipp, and bassist William Parker. In essence, this group reflects the saxophonist's ongoing relationship with Shipp and the ESP-Disk label. Their first recording was as a duo, Uppercut: Live at Okuden (2015); their second was in trio format with drummer Hamid Drake entitled Jungle: Live at Okuden (2016). Toxic's This Is Beautiful Because We Are Beautiful People was recorded in a single day in a Brooklyn, New York studio in 2015 and issued in the spring of 2017. ~ Thom Jurek