An auspicious meeting of long-time guitarist Russell and classically trained cellist Altenburger, Duet is a beautifully recorded live performance from the Musique en Movement Festival in November 2008. There's quite a bit of empathy between these two, and a lot of nice choices made in the moment. The first piece (none have titles, and indeed the CD is actually one long piece divided for convenience) provides a sequence of textural bits rising and falling from near silence, including lots of quiet crinkles and choked harmonics. The second piece seems even quieter, adhering to the same sort of playing, where ideas are brought up and hummed together before subsiding into almost sub-audible gesture.

I can't recall reading a review of Russell's playing that doesn't mention Derek Bailey, and it is difficult to not compare. There are similarities, to be sure, but I think these have more to do with the sound of the guitar itself than any stylistic considerations. I would venture that Bailey always sounded more forceful to me, and here Russell is content to accompany rather than lead, or rather, he leads in a subtle way when he leads at all. This long improvisation rarely "catches fire", but instead offers a thoughtful string of intriguing textures and sounds billowing from a ground of contemplation.