Here we have two musicians, Geoff Bright (bass and soprano saxes, voice) and Hervé Perez (alto and soprano saxes) providing us an hour of improvised music which was recorded over two sessions. Apparently, they started playing with no preconceived idea of where the music was going to take them and finished when it felt right to do so. Improvised music is very much of interest to those who enjoy not knowing where the journey is going to take them, sitting on the shoulders of the musicians who are trying to work out which path they should follow, whether they should be assisting others or going their own way. In recent years I have listened to a great deal of music in this style and have even come to think of it in the way it was described to me by Kevin Kastning, namely “live composing” as that is truly what it is.
But it does need to make sense, and with this album Bright and Perez have crossed the boundary of what I feel is enjoyable, although I can also see why others may feel differently. When the saxophones are combining then the world is good and things make sense to me, but when Bright uses his strange vocals and Perez attempts to make his contribution it sounds somewhat more like listing to a therapy class in an asylum. That is very much the danger of this style of music, as not everyone will “get” it, and sadly for me this is one of those times when I come away quite confused. I am a huge fan of the label so Martin Archer obviously hears something here which I don’t, but the world would be a boring place if we all listened to the same thing. Just not for me.
Rating: 6/10
Links:
https://discus-music.org/