The pairing of
Anthony Braxton
with virtually anybody is not an unheard of thing.
Braxton
has made more duet records than anyone on the
free jazz
/
improv
scene with the possible exception of
Derek Bailey
. In this case,
picked an unknown, one of his students at Wesleyan, to be his partner in Europe.
Ted Reichman
is no slouch as a pianist, and he is a fine accordionist. That said, the pairing just doesn't work. The reason is a simple one:
Reichman
is too in awe of his professor to give him a run for his money, though he is sufficiently gifted enough to perhaps do just that. He stilts himself, which in turn, stilts
(or worse, doesn't). When the professor is working from a full head of steam,
lays back when he should be driving in, running through
's skittering skein of notes, with cascading tonal clusters of his own. But he holds himself in check, which after 20 or 30 minutes becomes frustrating -- especially when you can hear how gifted
is as a soloist and as a potential foil. By the time one reaches the end of the disc -- the program is all
, and there are regrettably no standards here, which would have broken up the assault -- the feeling of having had too much of an almost satisfying dinner takes hold. You're more than full, but you're not sure you tasted your food. ~ Thom Jurek