Robert Barry and Fred Anderson - Duets 2001
(Thrill Jockey)
Improvised duo jazz performances have a rich history, documenting some of the more remarkably personal sonic trajectories. Although often times duet recordings end up being a bit more obscure artifacts in any given artists' catalog (perhaps due to its' stripped down, unadorned context), free jazz has some absolutely fantastic recordings which challenge any of the classic trio/quartet/ensemble classics. Witness the sheer magnitude of John Coltrane and Rashied Ali's soul-shredding furnace blast Interstellar Space as perhaps the most infamous example of the powerful possibilities just two musicians can muster. In terms of sheer intensity, Interstellar Space can hold its own against Coltrane's controversial free jazz milestone Ascension, which boasted 10 other members channeling the glorious cacophony. Monstrous propensity aside, lighter textures have found beautiful guidance, balancing frenetic squall with delicate melodies. MU 1st Part/2nd Part, the Pan-African duo classic between Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell, dances gracefully along minimal lines interwoven through the ecstatic and the subdued. These two examples illustrate what is crucial to improvised duet music: chemistry. Chemistry is always essential, but whereas a quartet for example can rely on its other members to guide breaks through solos or fill in any gaps, instrumental duos aim to prove the unadorned and austere is plenty, so long that the feeling is there to lock everything into a solid groove.
So through the mail and into my box comes a very highly anticipated release, Duets 2001 by exalted Chicago underground jazz uber-legends Robert Barry and Fred Anderson. Talk about two individuals crucial to the development of a city's free music scene! Mysteriously, both have been criminally under-documented and subsequently neglected by new jazz's sporadically illuminating spotlight. Regardless, both have served decisive roles, and seemingly in recent years are beginning to garner the attention they rightly deserve.
Robert Barry is a silken smooth drummer, approaching his spare kit with graceful exactitude. Balancing a muted timbre which bounces between Beatnik cool and combustible flurries, Barry signifies his longtime role as Chicago's #1 freelance drummer via his seemingly adaptable phrasings. No wonder, since Barry began in the 40's at the age of fifteen honing his chops in the furthest of dives, only to work his way into the cool blue with a stint as the drummer for Miles Davis. His true calling to the avant-garde came as he enlisted with Sun Ra's Arkestra. Barry's nearly 30 year on-again, off-again tenure with Sun Ra no doubt honed and accentuated his adaptability. Most recently, Barry has performed with Ken Vandermark in his Sound in Action Trio, and he is featured on the recent recording Design In Time (Delmark 1999).
Fred Anderson is one fabulous tenor saxophonist, an out-and-out living legend who has imbued much inspiration upon Chicago artists such as Ken Vandermark, Chad Taylor, Rob Mazurek, and Jeff Parker, among many others. Why isn't this person inscribed upon the ledger of free jazz pioneers??? Anderson, along with pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, founded the groundbreaking AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), a network which established a unity for avant-garde jazz musicians, in order to allow the art form to flourish rather than plummet from neglect or, as was extreme at the time, prejudice. From this network came the one and only Art Ensemble of Chicago, but not before Fred Anderson contributed to Joseph Jarman's pre-Art Ensemble recording As If it Were the Seasons. Between founding the AACM and forging one of the very first non-profit jazz performance spaces called the Bird House, Anderson gigged sporadically and recorded in a studio even less. Upon opening his club the Velvet Lounge, a club which he still owns and operates today, Anderson was able to balance business with an outlet to promote shows, allowing himself to gig quite often in the process. In recent years, his recording became much more prevalent, as labels such as Okka Disk, Atavistic (its "Unheard Music Series" unfurled the incredible Milwaukee Tapes a couple of years back) and Eremite released a handful of his performances with the likes of William Parker, Hamid Drake, "Kidd' Jordan, Peter Kowald and Ken Vandermark. In short, Fred Anderson is central to the cultivation of Chicago's underground jazz web.
More than likely it would seem inevitable that Robert Barry and Fred Anderson would hook up and compose some fantastic music together. Friends for quite a few years and intersecting via their music apparently "on countless occasions", the two Chicago stalwarts have to date played together only once a year. Duets 2001 marks their second meeting, and what a glorious collision it is! Recorded in May 1999 at Chicago's Empty Bottle, Duets 2001 is astounding, if only for the simple fact that this was just the second time the two played together... and there were no rehearsals whatsoever.
Starting humbly with the lightly hued bluesy number "Bouncing," Anderson and Barry bob along to a melodic line carried by robust tenor musings and sparse drum massages. Developing organically, the lines slowly mutate, the free interplay effortlessly widening with almost scripted ease. Before you realize, the number begins poaching out from the epicenter, like a vine whose tendrils branch and lace in multiple directions, but whose roots hold it steadfast. A nice preface into the key performance "Speed Way," a high paced freedom ride down the open highway. Here the chemistry is in full throttle, as burly, resonant sax spasms chatter loudly over chugging drum splashes. "Taps" begins with hand-drumming and remains curiously lilting throughout; "Off Blue" is deep Chicago blues upon inception but soon enough takes a turn into juxtaposed realms of wired bass tones and smooth percussion amblings; "Dark Day" ascends measured switchbacks, hitting a plateau where the players skip along with minimalist enunciations. No idea hits a wrong turn, no bursts of energy enters a dead end, for the telepathy between these two vets keeps the equilibrium solid, even as their synapses fire at ultra light speed.
As the tunes evolve and take shape, it's quite evident that with every foray into improvised musical geysers is a firm foundation of melody. And that is at the heart and soul of this astounding performance. Without any prior fine tuning, Barry and Anderson follow each others leads with impeccable instinct, guiding each other down a spontaneous path of least resistance to the destination best desired. Like many classic duet performances preceding it, Duets 2001 is marked by both melody and fire. Entirely conceived from pure improvisation, Duets 2001 is a live mosaic of luscious chemistry, an of-the-moment jelling of indefatigable talent. As Fred Anderson writes in the liner notes, "Music is about what you live. It's not about a lot of harmony and theory, it's about being able to respond immediately. That's what I always thought creative music was about. Responding immediately. Your life."
My response is immediate too: Phenomenal!
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