Han Bennink has become a regular visitor to Toronto in recent years, where there’s a sturdy core of enthusiasts for his brand of reliable (and sometimes inspired) mayhem. Bennink and local saxophonist Brodie West first met in 2000, and the drummer later had West sit in on a couple Toronto gigs; they’ve been performing as a duet since 2003. Their new disc, recorded on Toronto Island in June 2003, is pleasant, rambling, routine free music. West sounds like a scrawny Michael Moore, with a pinched, quavering tone and a fondness for noodly, amiable improvisations strung together from bop tags and scraps of scalar and arppeggio exercises. Bennink himself sounds fine, though relatively restrained, and he gets one solo spot (“Traps,” which includes his stick-in-the-mouth party-piece). As a whole the disc is modestly entertaining, but it’s pretty thin gruel.

Nate Dorward

Cadence, April 2005