The unlikely duo of acoustic guitarist and post bop trombonist Roswell Rudd make for a fantastically surprising successful mix of sounds, with moods ranging from pre-swing to the wide beyond of the future.
6 stringer Baker has made a career of keeping the rural acoustic guitar sounds akin to Rev Gary Davis alive, and he stays on that dirt road, while Rudd mixes tones and dynamics like a master painter. With a raucous mute, Rudd plunges deeper than Kim Kardashian’s neckline on the fun and bluesy “The Happenings” and old town stroll. of “A Light Blue”. The genius of the album comes in the song selection, giving a couple Monk songs a spin, as “Well, You Needn’t” a picker and grinner, and “Bemsha Swing” having Baker take you down a red clay path. There’s a fantastically free conversation on “Church” while Rudd gives a clever solo aria with a mix of effects and mouthpiece tricks and bell mutes on “Melancholy People”. A surprisingly satisfying treat!