| Recorded October 13, 1979 in Holland. Recorded in 1979 in Holland, this intriguing duet album between multi-reedist Walter Zuber Armstrong and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy is endearing and charming for its radical approach to the intimacy of what focused instrumentalists can attain when approaching the same goal from different directions and learning from the other's process on the way. There are two takes of the title track, clocking in with an average time of 24 minutes. Here Armstrong plays bass clarinet to Lacy's soprano. What becomes startling immediately is how both men look to establish from their corners melodic invention and a lyrical sensibility for their tonal explorations. Tonal journeying is a big part of what these two long compositions are all about, meeting in the middle of extremes and dovetailing one another with a timbral elegance that offers the listener the gentler side of each instrument without either player backing off of his exploratory nature. There is little drama that plays out here in an hour, but there doesn't need to be, because what is happening here is of the aural reception variety, deep listening music made by two masters of both hearing and speaking. What is left unsaid here is almost as important as what is, and the poetry of that knowing, that will to silence and economy, is what shapes this recording and gives it its considerable depth and dimension. |