AMG Review of Improvisation

Martin Walters
All Music Guide

This CD is reissue of the obscure Italian Cramps label LP from 1970, and this recording is one of the most searched for LPs of the godfather of free improvisation. Originally a very high production for the obscure guitarist, whose solo records are often produced as home recordings and live tapes, he is taken to the studio by Cramps and asked to define improvisation. A heady battle between thought and technique ensues, and we have a recording that could be the quintessential event in Derek Bailey documentation. Capturing the moment in extraordinary fidelity, this recording stands out in the artist's expansive discography. Like his stunning Aida, that was reissued in 1996 on Jim O'Rourke's Dexter's Cigar label and the Music and Dance duo with Min Tanaka, these have a quality that stands head and shoulders above other Bailey recordings, which can at times be oblique and overtly abstract without the same animation of musicality. Improvisation is the apex, and the unconverted have no better place to start exploring the expansive discography of this artist.