German piano legend Alexander von Schlippenbach has been a godfather of that
country's sharp-end jazz since the 1960s. As an erudite student of many kinds
of music, from free jazz to straight jazz to classical, Schlippenbach believes
that for the last century we've been in a new musical age, reflecting social
changes, in which improvisation has been renewed as a dominant creative
force. The old partnership of Schlippenbach and fellow pianist Takase hasn't
been convened in 15 years, but you wouldn't know it from the abandon with which
they hurl themselves into free-fall on this album, each confident the other one
will be waiting. There are 17 tracks; the longest is a five-part suite in which
they dart, flit, tease and canoodle around each other, with the fun being in
the exercise, not the search for a resolution. Some pieces are casual-sounding
formal conundrums; others charge along in a kind of psychic boogie. The title
track is a dark, percussive chord-pounder with distantly jazzy diversions. None
of this music addresses any familiar hooks, grooves or thematic ideas, but the
spontaneous thoughts of two such consummate keyboard artists and thinkers make
a very powerful substitute.