Peter Brötzmann, Paul G. Smyth

“Peter Brötzmann has made no secret of the fact he doesn’t especially dig playing with pianists, citing a few notable exceptions including Fred Van Hove, Pat Thomas and Masahiko Satoh. Recorded in Dublin in 2015, this adventurous set extends the honour to Irish pianist Paul G Smyth. As Brötzmann locks into a characteristically savage mutter, Smyth responds with hyperkinetic leaps up the keyboard but, when the tenor briefly drops out, he’s able to employ a more deft touch, generating intricate dreamy ripples. Throughout the ebb and flow, reed and keys come together in spontaneous sympathy – with the highest altissimo squeal signalling deep oceanic chords of peak intensity, or Brötzmann subsiding into smoky noir backed by a chiming funereal dirge.” — Daniel Spicer, The Wire

"This album has both intensity and shimmering beauty on its side" — Philip Freeman, Burning Ambulance

"a moving meditation, a deeply emotional pairing ... Occasionally, albums get referred to as slabs, thick and heavy. This slab, however, remains a bright and energizing object." — Lee Rice Epstein, The Free Jazz Collective