(Modern Creative) Susan Allen / Vinny Golia - Duets - 1998, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Woodwind specialist/improviser/composer and big bandleader Vinny Golia knows no bounds! Here, the highly esteemed California denizen performs a series of attractive duets with harpist Susan Allen on the aptly titled recording, Duets.
On this release, the maestro utilizes an arsenal of clarinets, flutes and saxophones or just about any wind instrument imaginable. Yet the duo often provides surreal soundscapes via contrasting dialogue amid a distinct sense of unity and unaffected beauty as Ms Allen’s nimble flurries and implied rhythms counterbalance Golia’s multifarious concepts.
Throughout, the twosome renders fluttering undercurrents and animated exchanges on pieces such as “Duet Number 2” where Golia, performing on flute, imparts dream laden textures, imbued voicings and circular passages atop Ms. Allen’s fluent lines, deterministic mode of execution and vivacious interaction.
Golia picks up the soprano sax on “Duet Number 4” as the musicians mesh chamber-esque themes with soulful harmonies, although Golia’s low register explorations on contrabassoon elicits imagery that could suggest the proverbial - man versus machine concept.
Overall, Duets is a comprehensive feast for the mind’s eye as this duo invites the listener to embark on a mystical yet vibrant journey that intertwines escapist musings with poetic improvisational speak! ~ Glenn Astarita, AAJ

Serious improvisers take heart: multi-woodwind instrumentalist Golia and harpist Allen mean business. Harmonic overtones and smears, lovely melodies, emotions that run the gamut from adoration to rage are all within these two brilliant musicians' purview. The result is a recording that most will certainly find unusual, and that mavens of the avant-garde will relish. The 14 tracks, some as short as three to four minutes, other stretched to six or seven, have Golia pretty much taking the lead and Allen following. "Duets 1-12" are bookended by the playful but serious "No Titles Yet" and "For M.P.," which has Golia humming through his instrument in a Native American fashion, with Allen picking her way through the forest at daybreak. The duets vary in pacing, primarily in a no-time framework. The stance is mostly dark and foreboding, but at times bright and hopeful. There is a decided chamber music feel, the series of duets acting as a suite. Pure melodic content is not as important an element as the emotion of the moment. There are times when Golia is reaching for the stratosphere on soprano sax, fluttering on flute, or growling on bass clarinet, then chooses to speak in spiritual, tonic terms. Allen does some rattling and twanging of the harp, but mainly stays with the beautiful, spare or cascading arpeggiated lines one most closely associates with the instrument. The challenged listener will find much to absorb and contemplate during this program of unique improvisational endeavor. Much beauty can be found in even the harshest reality -- the proof is here. ~ Michael G. Nastos, AMG

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 16. July 2009, 19:07
Susan Allen / Vinny Golia / Duets
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