DEREK BAILEY / JOËLLE LÉANDRE - No Waiting (1997) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Derek Bailey has recorded many LPs and CDs, yet his style never fails to invigorate. This one is no exception. These five totally improvised duos between Bailey and string bassist Joëlle Leandre, live in concert at Les Instants Chavirés in Montreuil, France, are some of the most interesting examples of the free music genre. Bailey's electric guitar reverberates ever so spasmodically next to Leandre's scratchy, then hyper-technical bass. Leandre can play with such virtuosity and intensity, but Bailey can counter with space and atmospherics before concentrating on little sounds. Call it a symphony of tiny, sometimes busy, sounds, and you get the idea. The entire album is a lesson in interaction: Leandre and Bailey duel, but only peripherally; they blend not as one, but as a two-headed dragon. In all, a cause for celebration. by Steve Loewy