This is a perfect setting for pianist Paul Plimley and bassist Barry Guy: 13 tracks of relaxed interaction, where these two similarly situated virtuosi spread out and take their time to produce magnificent music that enthralls with every beat. Plimley is the consummate pianist's pianist; he controls the keyboards, with dense clusters here, torrid runs there, and variations in tempo, dynamics, and concept. Rarely can his thoughts be anticipated, as he glides across the keyboards with unbounded finesse. Guy, too, makes his strings sing, with a command that astonishes with its technical brilliance. But the bassist is much more than a machine. Along with William Parker, Peter Kowald, and Dominic Duval, he extends the possibilities of his instrument and the result is a level of song that plummets the depths of sheer beauty. As a duo, Plimley/Guy can be gorgeously plush one minute ("Lyrical Amber, Hand Held") and wildly exuberant the next ("This Is Not Much Less than Flat"). By the end of the program, the listener is exhausted (as presumably were the participants), but satiated.
© Steven Loewy /TiVo