2011 release ** Limited edition of 450 hand-numbered copies. "Tetuzi Akiyama, an improviser who plays both acoustic and electric guitar, performs in Japan and other countries, including on yearly overseas tours. Takuji Kawai, born in 1963, studied classical piano as a child and received a master's degree from the graduate school of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music. He started improvising in the mid-1980s, and in addition to improvised music he currently performs works by contemporary composers like John Cage, Morton Feldman, Giacinto Scelsi, and Yuji Takahashi. An outstanding talent, Kawai is a composer as well as a pianist. This CD consists of eight duo improvisations on acoustic guitar and piano, studio-recorded in September 2009. Kawai uses preparations like bolts and thread on most of the tracks (Akiyama uses a prepared guitar on one track and a slide guitar on another.). The two acoustic instruments sometimes clash, sometimes sympathize, without ever losing the overall tension and control."