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Presentación del Álbum

A CD reissue of this early Henry Kaiser project would provide both a revealing sniff of the atmosphere and a stimulating dose of the high energy of the late '70s international free-improvising scene. The music on this album is split between two duos. In each case, the guitarist is matched up with a foreign player, the Japanese trumpeter Toshinori Kondo on the first side and the Italian percussionist Andrea Centazzo on the flip. The influence of the British Derek Bailey and his philosophy of improvisation is all-pervasive, as this was not only one of the main traits in Kaiser's early playing but a guiding light behind the other musicians as well; each had recorded successfully with Bailey before meeting up with Kaiser. The superior recording sound and often aggressive attack of these pieces means the listener is being presented with large amounts of sonic detail almost constantly. Kondo twists and turns within the narrow confines of trumpet corridors like someone chewing off the head of music itself; Centazzo is more the kid in the toy shop, stroking this and banging that and winding up this, all very much in a complementary flow with the guitarist's activities. To give him credit, he avoids the temptation to merely imitate the style of various European free improvisation percussion masters. The temptation to lead in such tried-and-true directions may be present, but Kaiser's playing luckily has that sense of urgency both useful and youthful. He can be like some kind of chariot racer cracking a whip, leading along with thoughtful editing to quite a few shorter pieces, particularly in the Kondo duo. Some of these are off the cliff and landing in the shrubbery below before one has a sense of who or what it was that jumped; the two four-minute improvisations "101e" and "102," on the other hand, are masterpieces of the kind of symphonic detail that can occur in the best free-improvised music. This was one of Kaiser's best productions out of his first dozen albums, and is certainly not one that should remain out of print and forgotten. The amount of musical detail included in these performances is almost historic in itself. And to provide some specifics from these areas, the late-'70s model of "Kondo-san" is heard acoustically, playing trumpet in tandem with the unusual Eb horn, and sometimes creating synchronized lines on both instruments simultaneously, in the manner of a brassy Japanese Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The Centazzo setup will provide percussionists with a demonstration record for the line of UFIP gongs, bells, and whatnot that Centazzo helped design in this era, while Kaiser serves a similar role in promoting the flawless sound and tonal palette of the good old Gibson guitar.

© Eugene Chadbourne /TiVo