Jack Wright & Alban Bailly

It would be too easy to label guitarist Alban Bailly the French Derek Bailey. Spelling and pronunciation aside, the Frenchman turned Philadelphia resident does though remind you of the great improvising genius. His roots in rock and Arabic music prepare listeners for nothing they will experience on this recording. He takes up with fellow Eastern Pennsylvania saxophonist Jack Wright on these eight improvised pieces. Wright's saxophone is best in tandem with other players. It is not that he cannot command the stage as a solo artist, he has a long discography of released LPs, CDs, and cassettes of this one-man shows. It's just that pairing him with another musician offers the listener and the musical partners the synchronistic effects of his genius. Jack Wright makes players better musicians, and better sound is delivered. Here, Bailly extends the possibilities of an acoustic guitar, with spitfire notes, tapping, and the sweep of fingers up and down the strings. With Wright's coaxing the two dance around each other's notes, blurts, blobs and squeaks. The duo provides plenty of differing sounds to chew on, they seemingly never repeat a sound (or noise). The missing element here is the visual. The physicality of each musician playing is evident, but a live performance or video is the only way to fully digest this endeavor.

-- Mark Corroto