In his liner notes, producer Martin Davidson strikes an oddly defensive tone about this release, as though the concept of an album of improvised music by a bassist and drummer might somehow be transgressing accepted boundaries, might be too foreign a concept for the listener. I don’t know, maybe he’s aiming toward a younger generation of potential fans, perhaps those who only know Edwards’ work from more rock-oriented groups like B-Shops for the Poor, but the music herein is pretty much what one would expect and, indeed, not terribly different from much free improv of the last 25 years. Both men are solid, experienced musicians and probably couldn’t turn in a less than professional effort if they tried but there is a sense of treading over well-worn ground. There’s plenty of the sort of “wowing” performance that’s become part and parcel of this branch of British improv over the last couple of decades, the virtuosic display of free technique that makes players like this a fine foil for saxophonist Evan Parker. Depending on where one is coming from, this might be a fascinating, new adventure, exactly what one was expecting and hoping for or, maybe, a session that fills one with the nagging sense of musicians running on conceptual fumes. The first group, if they’re accustomed to the more stringent environment of most pop, will certainly get great exposure to a wealth of possibilities (though they have a mighty large back catalog of precedents to wade through should they so desire); Edwards and Sanders run the gamut from fiery interplay through (all to rare) contemplative listening and both have technique to spare. Edwards, especially arco, can hold his own with any similar bassist short of Barry Guy while Sanders’ splashy, coloristic approach allows him to often assume the role of melodist in the duo. Emanem freaks will find a healthy helping of what they’ve come to love in this label. Sooner or later, however, some of them may get a bit weary, no matter how well presented or played, of the same old same old. Free improv can breed its own strains of conservatism and much of the music here sounds as though it could easily have been produced at any time in the last quarter century and seems willfully ignorant of developments in the improvised world since then. Of course, Edwards and Sanders are under no special obligation to go in this or that direction, but then neither are the so-called young lions of the US jazz scene, musicians whom fans of jazz-based free improv tend to look on with disdain. Curious, that. It’s interesting to note that John Wall was involved in the production; though the work of these musicians has often been sampled by Wall in his own beautiful constructions, little if any of his conception of sound appears to have rubbed off.

‘Nisus Duets’ certainly delivers what it promises and, for many, that will be enough and the disc will be greatly enjoyed. It has the goods. The only question is whether or not these goods have reached their shelf life.