Circular Logic

In these woodwind duets between Adams (of the Rova Saxophone Quartet) and Golia, the two feed off each other's energies. Many times one will play a higher-register instrument, such as a soprano or alto sax or flute, while the other wields a bass sax, baritone sax, or bass clarinet. Sometime they match timbres, high or low, but mostly it's the two matching wits as if in a chess game, with musical moves, countermoves, and creative notions that speak in clear, American, freedom-based dialect, to the heart of pure, fearless spontaneity. On many selections, one is struck with the naturalness of it all. Sounds of birds are frequently conjured, soaring and swooping, waking in the morning with insistent chatter, or the hushed, late-night pall signifying the end of yet another day. Sometimes you hear the guttural howl of monsters, or the roar of a pride of lions. Lots of overblown harmonic smears are utilized, as well as the patient beauty of measured lines. A most palpable, childlike wonder is emoted in the soprano sax/bass clarinet pairing on "Not Quite What You Thought" and in the two playing flutes on the apropos "5 a.m." "Glue" hits a solid World Saxophone Quartet groove with alto and baritone sax, while "Caucus 2" and "Maybe It's the Light" display the pair in fluttering, skittish terms. The title track with flute and clarinet, the dueling sopranino saxes on "Diatribe, Pt. IV," and the lengthy tryptic for multi-flutes and clarinets "In Ludwig's House" are pretty self-explanatory. The finale, "Symbolic Logic," with bass flute and bass clarinet hinting at mystery and suggesting a sorcerer is producing the session, puts a spooky exclamation point on the program. This is a great example of the creative avant aesthetic coming home to roost in your face, sometimes serenely gorgeous or chaotically piercing. Adams and Golia are clearly masters of this idiom, and on this incredible disc they run the gamut of emotional, full force, no-holds-barred expressionist endeavor. ~ Michael G. Nastos, Rovi