Titled with the wry literalism that is Emanem’s house style, Vortices and Angels pairs up performances recorded in two London venues in 2000: two Butcher/Bailey duets from the Vortex club and three Butcher/Davies duets from St Michael and All Angels Church. Though Butcher and Bailey are regular playing partners, this was their first stripped-down duo in a decade, and the opening tenor-guitar duet, “Low Vortex,” is a probing, fast, and (for Butcher) unexpectedly loud battle of wits (or is it nerves?). Bailey uncorks some of his most exacting and fearsomely paced playing, forcing Butcher, ordinarily the most orderly of improvisors and by inclination a miniaturist, to think in terms of waves and convoluted tangles of notes; but as the improvisation unfolds over a labyrinthine 27 minutes the near-bottomless depth of Butcher’s arsenal of devices becomes increasingly, almost frighteningly clear. Even just as a demonstration of “extended technique” it’s an impressive performance, and overall this must be counted one of the best things either man has recorded in the past decade. The duets with Davies are by the sharpest of contrasts hypnotically slow and quiet. Davies plays harp, but his use of bowing and preparations deeply estranges it from anything like what one expects his instrument to sound like. Both halves of the disc merit (and require) the closest attention.

Shooters and Bowlers compiles sessions with Gerry Hemingway recorded three months apart on either side of the Atlantic – as it happens, at nearly the same times as the Emanem sessions. Most of the tracks are brief and almost expository in approach, focussing on single ideas or textures. While this bespeaks remarkable control and concentration, the disc ultimately palls because of its besetting textural thinness and repetitiousness. Both players, for instance, at several points drop into loops where they relentlessly peck at sounds in the manner of a bird or a typist, and there are two inconsequential pieces where Hemingway repeatedly sucks and blows a harmonica (“Hay”) or patters on vibes (“The Lightning Strike”). Butcher intently grinds tiny sonic fragments ever-finer, sometimes to good effect, but this album turns out a middling entry in the principals’ burgeoning discographies. Much more rewarding is the duo with Dylan van der Schyff, Points, Snags and Windings. Though the drummer draws adeptly on the pool of devices established by free-improvising percussionists – check out in particular his shrewd use of bowed and otherwise manipulated cymbals – his jazz background also usefully permeates his responses. This is most apparent on “Recent Realism,” which he kicks off with brushwork that prompts fractured but almost swinging tenor from Butcher; the track comes off like a bell-less outtake from Interstellar Space. It’s a vibrant and exciting album.

On Intentions Butcher plays in trio formation with longtime collaborator Phil Durrant (on acoustic violin, rather than live electronics as on their duo albums for Wobbly Rail and Erstwhile) and the Vancouver cellist Peggy Lee. After the edgy austerities of the three duo albums, this performance is strikingly relaxed and warm – and (dare I say it) remarkably humane, with touches of whimsy and humour. All three players balance nonidiomatic improv with an unconstrained melodicism, and sonically and emotionally this is the richest of these four albums. Highly recommended.

Nate Dorward

Coda, May/June 2002