| British sax giant Evan Parker has a good number of recordings in duo with other saxophonists, and the list of notables includes Ned Rothenberg, Peter A. Schmid, Joe McPhee, Wolfgang Fuchs, Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy, Lol Coxhill, Hans Koch, and Louis Sclavis. Now, we can add Urs Leimgruber to that pantheon. In truth, the Swiss tenor and soprano explorer was already their pair among the most inventive, skilled and individualistic reedmen in activity – finding him in the company of one of the great pioneers of free improvisation signifies a definitive and more than just recognition. Using the same tools and the same procedures don't prevent that everything else distinguishes the two saxophone players: Parker is a physical, sometimes visceral, musician, even when his phrasings get complex and tricky, and Leimgruber is cerebral and mathematic in every situation, including the moments in which the music boils. Those differences don't imply a lack of communication between the two improvisers, but the opposite: the disagreements, more than the encounters, are what makes "Twine" such an amazing, puzzling and defying CD. This is a music of creative dissent, not of false peace. |