List’nin’ room: pairs list/ Won howwa phorphilm on Friday 15 january 1999

Compiled by roger parry

Here we have DUO material on fifteen tracks selected from a dozen releases. The material has been recorded as recently as last year (1998) and as far back as 1978, although it is mainly of more recent vintage. All except the final track are free improvisations.

The first two items feature two British players who have worked together and with others over many years. It is on the EMANEM label, recently covered in a Listening Room session.

1. EMANEM 4021 Boundless: lol coxhill, sop sax/ veryan weston, piano

Track 1, School Test (01:37)

Track 6, C’s Major Demand (01:38)

Recorded: 980129

Next, British and a Chinese ‘national treasures’! This is from a release produced by John Zorn, the American hyperactive!

2. AVAN 050 Viper: derek bailey, guitar/ min xiao fen, pipa

Track 1, Bai Hua She (02:57)

Recorded: 9771216

Evan Parker, old sparring partner of Derek Bailey, is featured next with a relatively unknown Spanish pianist; it seems that there is a growing interest – mainly in Barcelona – in that country in free improvistion.

3. NCM 4 Tempranillo: evan parker, tenor sax/ agusti fernandez, piano

Track 3, Part III (05:05)

Recorded: 951124

Next, a Swiss release, with two guitarists, one Swiss, the other, German.

4. INTAKT 023 Show-Down: wadi gysi, guitar/ hans reichel, guitar

Track 5, Throwing the Salt (03:09)

Recorded: 901019

Now, a well-established British improvisor and composer, Barry Guy (who currently resides in the Republic of Ireland), with the increasingly well-known Swedish reed and wind player, Mats Gustaffson. This is a release issued by Barry Guy (and his wife, Maya Homburger, who plays baroque viola, and can be heard on other – classical - releases on the MAYA label.)

5. MAYA 9702 Frogging: barry guy, bass/ mats gustafsson, tenor sax

Track 9, Chorophilus ocularis (04:32)

Recorded: 970619

Now, two tracks from the legendary pianist, Cecil Taylor, with two quite different percussionist/ drummers recorded during an extended stay in Berlin in 1988 when Cecil played a large number of concerts, most of which were recorded and subsequently released by FMP of Berlin. These tracks were ‘encores’ originally; notice the ‘theme’, one that features in many of Mr Taylor’s extemporisations.

By the way, Mr Taylor is scheduled to play later this month at the Barbican in London, in a DUO with drummer Max Roach (Sunday 24 January at 7.30 pm; tel: 0171 638 8891).

6. FMP MJ 02 Concrete: cecil taylor, piano/ gunter sommer, percussion

Track 2, Riobec 4 (05:08)

Recorded: 880617

7. FMP MJ 02 Concrete: cecil taylor, piano/ tony oxley, drums

Track 5, The Old Canal (02:08)

Recorded: 891102

Now, hot off the press, a duo featuring the AACM Chicagoan trombonist, composer George Lewis (who has a great interest in using a computer as a duo partner, programmed to respond and/or initiate sound with some degree of ‘spontaneity’) and the American academic and bass player, Bertam Turetzky.

INCUS 32 Conversations: george e. lewis, trombone/ bertram turetzky, bass

Track 1, North Country Diatribe (03:25)

Track 9, The Ecumenical Blues (04:12)

Recorded: 971126

Now we have three examples of Steve Lacy in quite different extemporising situations with three very different partners. These tracks are from 1995, 1994 and 1978. It was in the period around the earliest date that Mr Lacy was involved exclusively in free improvisation. He now rarely participates in this form, but still creates good music on the hoof as the other two tracks demonstrate.

8. TKOJ-1 Eternal Duo: steve lacy, soprano sax/ masahiko togashi, drums

Track 9, Why Not? (05:06)

Recorded: 950908

9. SOULNOTE 121298-2 Communique: steve lacy, sop sax/ mal waldron, piano

Track 11, Communique (03:56)

Recorded 940308/09

10. hat ART 6069 High, Low and Order: steve lacy, sop sax/ maarten altena, bass

Track 2, Off-hand (04:30)

Recorded 781209/10

Our penultimate selection is the black sheep of the American Kaiser Steel family with the Canadian who invented plunderphonics, the original sampling composing…

11. INCUS CD26 Improvised: henry kaiser, guitar / john oswald, alto sax, voice

Track 4, Acouverstic (02:17)

Recorded 960506

Finally, a through-written work…

13. LEO 251 Composition 192: anthony braxton, reeds/ lauren newton, voice

Track 1 (the only track, play for as long or as short as you like!)