New CD ESP-4058 Paul Dunmall & Chris Corsano - Identical Sunsets

CD

LP

Best known for his collaborations with Paul Flaherty, Michael Flower and Thurston Moore as well as a year-and-a-half stint as the drummer for Bjork's Volta tour, Chris Corsano is widely considered to be one of the most adaptive drummers of his generation. Equally prolific is UK saxophone giant, Paul Dunmall, who has worked disparately with jazz greats like Alice Coltrane and Evan Parker as well as funk and folk acts like Johnny Guitar Watson and DandoShaft.

After a chance meeting in a taxi line at Lisbon Airport, a surreal intertwining of tours emanated. In between the lasers, confetti and face-painted fans at Plymouth Pavillions and Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Chris left the Bjork mega-tour to get down to business alongside the imaginative Dunmall for some vital improvisation at Slak Bar in Cheltenham, England.

This wonderfully recorded live set begins with Dunmall swirling away on the border pipes (he may be the preeminent improvisor using bagpipes). What follows is an impulsive and lyrical improvisation, alternatingly sparse and impossibly textured. Corsano's skittering marries perfectly with Dunmall's rapid-fire lines. The melodies are expertly uncoiled so that they remain charged whether the tempo is at full speed or crawling. The set ends furiously, leaving no doubt that this duo was fated to work together.