Roscoe Mitchell, Muhal Richard Abrams

Duets And Solos brings together pianist Muhal Richard Abrams and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, recorded in New York on March 15, 1990 and released by Black Saint in 1993. Their history goes back to Chicago. In 1961 Abrams started his Experimental Band, whose members included Mitchell, and in 1965 he co-founded the AACM, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. By 1990 Abrams had lived in New York for thirteen years, and that year he became the first recipient of the Danish JAZZPAR award. The plan of the record is in its title: one long solo each and two duets.

Abrams plays piano and synthesizer, Mitchell soprano, alto and tenor saxophones. The two musicians produced the album themselves, with Thomas Buckner and the World Music Institute as co-producers, Rob Rapley as recording engineer and Giovanni Bonandrini as executive producer. George Lewis wrote the liner notes and the cover is a painting by Jeff Schlanger. Abrams opens alone with Scenes And Color, a piano solo of more than 26 minutes. Ode To The Imagination, the first duet, runs about ten minutes, and Mitchell answers with Star Night, a saxophone solo of nearly fifteen. The closing Reunion is the second duet, 27 minutes in four sections titled March, Prelude, Dance and Finale, which the sleeve describes as continuous music without interruption.

This is the Black Saint CD 120133-2, first released in 1993, four tracks running about 79 minutes.