David Holland / Derek Bailey - Improvisations for Cello and Guitar (ECM)

The back cover reads from E.E. Cummings poem, "One's not half two. Its two are halves of one... All lose, whole find." Cummings' words, as do the improvisations here, speak to the numerous effects of controlled collaboration that transcend far beyond what just one experienced musician might rear. In a rare recorded meeting, Bailey and Holland performed together before a small audience in London's Little Theatre Club in early 1971. Of those hours, only 40 or so minutes made it to the original issue. True to form, Bailey and Holland show wonderful command of their instruments and communicate in such a way that divergence comes off natural, even in the most antipodal of their instruments' tonal stances. Holland's training in orchestral music is largely evident as he latches on to Bailey's unparalleled approach to guitar. The results, as one might guess, are far detached from certain improvisational advances of the time, even as Bailey's Music Improvisation Company was well under way. Today, the music is fresh, and somehow archival. It can be argued that modern improvisation in the hands of current Western musicians undoubtedly flowered from roots such as those heard here.