Among creative vocalist Thomas Buckner's many laudable achievements (which during the 1970s included making it onto Richard Nixon's world-famous Enemy List and founding the ambitious 1750 Arch record label) are his periodic one-on-one collaborations with master improvisers. Buckner has recorded and released duet albums with saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell (2001), percussionist Jerome Cooper (2003), and flutist Robert Dick (2009). A precedent of sorts for this last project occurred in August 2005 when Buckner and flutist Jérôme ...
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Among creative vocalist Thomas Buckner's many laudable achievements (which during the 1970s included making it onto Richard Nixon's world-famous Enemy List and founding the ambitious 1750 Arch record label) are his periodic one-on-one collaborations with master improvisers. Buckner has recorded and released duet albums with saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell (2001), percussionist Jerome Cooper (2003), and flutist Robert Dick (2009). A precedent of sorts for this last project occurred in August 2005 when Buckner and flutist Jérôme Bourdellon (who has also worked with avant-guitarist Raymond Boni and multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee) recorded an album of duo improvisations in the presence of a sculptural group entitled "Totem". This intimate exchange occurred inside the Parisian studio of their close mutual friend Alain Kirili. Listeners may wish to consider concentrating upon the photograph of the art objects while listening to the set of seven duets in order to emulate how the singer and the flautist focused themselves during the nearly 58-minute recorded ritual. The fact that Buckner and Bourdellon are also known to have responded to Kirili's sculptures in performance at a public opening in the garden of the Theatre du Palais Royal raises the possibility that a live recording of Totem may surface at some point in the future. The charmingly quirky spontaneity of the work places it in league with Karlheinz Stockhausen's Spiral, various works by vocal contortionist David Moss, and the moment-by-moment auditory explorations of Pauline Oliveros and the Deep Listening Band. Those who can't or won't stare at the intricate vertical sculptures throughout may choose instead to play this recording back at maximum volume while studying every detail of the world at large that is visible within the visual parameters of an open window. ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi
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