This collection of six duets with pianist
Agusti Fernandez
showcases a softer side of guitarist
Joe Morris
-- most of the time. The pieces are acoustic, and entirely improvised, and while some of them move through multiple stages, at times seeming like several pieces played in sequence rather than one cohesive musical thought, others are entirely self-contained. "Ambrosia 4," for example, is more of a noise exercise than a guitar-piano duo;
Fernandez
sounds like he's sawing the instrument apart, or running over it with a steamroller, while
Morris
sounds like he's playing the guitar with a bow at certain points. On other tracks, much more conventional ideas of beauty come to the fore;
opts for a style somewhere between
Django Reinhardt
and
Derek Bailey
, while
plays forcefully but with great discipline and beauty. This is very intense, focused music that sounds like it took a lot out of the players -- they can be heard listening at all times, even as they seem to be talking past each other, determined to make a particular point before addressing the other person's ideas. When they work in perfect counterpoint, as on the pointillistic "Ambrosia 5," for example, the results are breathtaking. ~ Phil Freeman