There might not be quite as much debate over composition versus improvisation if compositions tended to sound more like the improvisations of their composers. And I am not simply referring to compositions that build in improvisations within them, of which there are a multitude of example from the mundane to the see sublime, as the history of Jazz and Blues will attest. Rather, I refer to the rarer cases in which the compositions capture something of stream-of-consciousness that great improvisation embodies — when a composer employs an ensemble as something like his or her own extended instrument. Bernhard Lang's "Theater der Weiderholungen" comes to mind as ready example. Barry Guy's works might, too, judging by some of the examples on this duo CD with pianist Agusti Fernandez.
Listeners who know Guy from his wilder work with players like Evan Parker and Marilyn Crispell should not head for more familiar waters upon hearing the initial strains of "Annalisa," which at first sounds like it might belong amid the tamer fair of a label like ECM. The opening segments, as well as the main theme, do have a certain Keith Jarrett quality. However, it is the twists and turns of the piece that ultimately deliver the goods. The piece is sectional, and, though clearly composed (at least in part) the transitions and contrasts reveal Guy as composer to be quite close to Guy as veteran improviser.
The standout example of this approach, though, has to be "Some other place." It is bookended by stunning cluster chords that seem to hang with almost electronic sustain. The players wend their way through the chordal themes of the piece, eventually arriving at an open improvisational section at its core. The player's interactions, like the writing itself, are very organic, and surprisingly univocal.
Guy's "Blueshift," by contrast, is a more standard composition. It sticks pretty close to a blues-like chord progression and feel. Fernandez and Guy stay within the expected (and appropriate) reflective feel throughout, with Guy throwing in only a few bars here and there of his more familiar approach to bass playing.
Fernandez's compositions on this album (serving as the majority) tend to loosen the reigns a bit more than Guy's do, leaving more room for the instrumentalists to do their own thing. "Bernard's Loop" and "Rosette," for example, is listed as a Fernandez piece, but sounds very much like an open duo improvisation. "How to go into a room you are already in," and "Boomerang Nebula," while clearly more notated compositions, also allow Guy and Fernandez plenty of space to employ their impressive extended chops.
This improvisation-friendly compositional feel continues when Fernandez and Guy combine compositional forces, and makes for some of the more exciting seat-of-the-pants playing on the CD. Structurally, their proclivities on "Dark Energy" bear much similarity to Cecil Taylor's. In fact, it is practically impossible to hear "Dark Energy" without thinking of Taylor, not only because of the ecstatic abandon of the piano (and bass) playing, but the very shape of the piece, which would be right at home on one of the celebrated FMP "Berlin" disks.
Ultimately, there is a surprising and effective amount of variety here, especially given that it is a bass/piano duo recording with compositions by only the players themselves. But what keeps the CD from losing focus is the synergistic quality of the interactions and the freshness of most of the playing.
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