Description: Here we have a staggering work of free improvisation from two masters of the genre, pianist JOHN TILBURY and tabletop guitarist KEITH ROWE: Duos for Doris, a 130-minutes-plus double CD released in 2003 by the Erstwhile label. Despite having worked together in musical contexts since the mid-'60s, and despite comprising two-thirds of AMM since about 1980, Keith Rowe and John Tilbury had never performed as a duo prior to this session. Duos for Doris is dedicated to the pianist's mother, who passed away three days before this recording, and an air of thoughtful melancholy, as well as resolution and a degree of anguish, hovers over the extraordinary music that transpires. The two discs contain three lengthy explorations of sound, each capturing these musicians at an absolute peak. This is playing on a level rivaling anything produced by AMM -- high praise indeed! "Cathnor," a 70-minute improvisation of enormous range and depth, comprises the first disc and offers creative improvisation on a vast scale from delicate taps and scrapes; to profound low and mournful chords; to conciliatory melodies of extreme delicacy and restraint. Restraint, indeed, is one of the major features of this recording. More and more in the years leading up to this date, Rowe had preferred to make himself nearly invisible, to provide a "canvas" for others to use as a platform. Here, the listener's ear is automatically drawn to Tilbury's lovely, Morton Feldman-inflected tones, but when one shifts to Rowe, there's almost always a ton of rich, complicated stuff going on, all of it accenting and couching the piano. Toward the end of the final track, Tilbury leaned into the piano and stroked individual strings between thumb and forefinger, eliciting ghostly tones of a sublime and heart-rending nature. He then transferred this ethereal "melody" to the upper reaches of the keyboard, creating music of such fragility and grace as is rarely heard anywhere. There are several moments such as this in Duos for Doris, contributing to an achievement of surpassing beauty, a masterwork of experimental sound. Both discs are near mint. Track list Cathnor (1:10:14) Olaf (45:32) Oxleay (17:29)
Price: 30 USD
Location: Brentwood, California
End Time: 2025-01-18T23:50:06.000Z
Shipping Cost: 5 USD
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Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Artist: Keith Rowe & John Tilbury
Format: 2xCD
Release Year: 2003
Record Label: Erstwhile
Release Title: Duos for Doris
Genre: Experimental
