The duo is, generally speaking, the strongest combo for minimal improv: an intimate conversation rather than a monologue, but with enough space for the discussion to move forward without too many tangents or individuals pushing a point. There are also enough exceptions (AMM, Polwechsel, poire_z) to perhaps disprove the rule, but either way, when a new, larger grouping comes together and seems to gel immediately, the results can be quietly exciting.
Saxophonist/clarinetist Lucio Capece and no-input mixing board player Toshimaru Nakamura follow their previous formed.records release IJ to move from the quintessential duo to a highly intuitive quartet, adding Burkhard Beins on percussion and Rhodri Davies on harp. SLW was actually recorded the day before IJ, although the pair traveled from Brussels to Amsterdam to record the second session. The resulting album - a single track of close to an hour - is a slow whirlwind of sounds and textures, varying wildly in volume and relative tempos. But what stands out most here is how rarely the individual voices leap forward, as if the sum were less than the parts. Occasionally a scraped cymbal or fluttered reed rises to the fore, but more often the sounds are submerged and melded, roaming or throbbing, in a fascinating meld.
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Kurt Gottschalk 2008-11-05
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