The musical equivalent of observing the back-and-forth messages of an email exchange or individuals' alternating tweets, Italian vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli and UK soprano saxophonist Evan Parker have a dialog not a duet. Forced by Covid restriction to abandon a duo tour, Armaroli then recorded six vibraphone improvisations in Milan sent the files to Parker, who after monitoring them for a couple of weeks, recorded his reed responses in a UK studio and sent those files to the vibraphonist.
Armaroli, who has duetted with figures like Giancarlo Schiaffini and Fritz Hauser, and Parker who has done so with census roll of international improvisers, decided to not overdub their music. Instead this is a honest rendering of vibraphone prestidigitation and an equally stark rendition of reed techniques inspired by the initial metal-and-mallets extemporization. Except for Armaroli's nearly 27-minute "Two Rooms One Vibraphone #6", which Parker found too idea rich to respond to, most of the remaining 10 tracks are in the two to three minute range, with the saxophonist's rejoinders briefer than the vibraphonist's hypotheses.
Projecting singular shaped notes and rolling out affiliated vibrations at varied tempos and pitches Armaroli's expositions are restrained as well as sparkling, with power and turbulence included in the brief selections. Mixing basso scoops, squeaky doits and flutter-tonguing, Parker consistently expands his responses into multiphonics and circular breathing. Its only on "Interlude 3" that the intensity of his seemingly unstoppable variations reflect studio architecture vibrations before relaxing into affiliated textures.
Parallel solos rather than a true dialog, the session confirms the individual skill of each participant.