Peter Nicolson and Raymond Macdonald - Streetlevel

(Iorram Records)

More adventures in free improvisation from this Glasgow-based, musician-run label. Nicholson’s cello and the alto and soprano saxophones of MacDonald are deployed in characteristically free ranging fashion, coaxing a broad spectrum of sounds from each instrument that runs from relatively conventional to very abstract. Both musicians also use voice, again in a variety of ways, from gutteral grunts to whistling.

They create a half dozen cryptically named pieces in this exploratory fashion, each with its own character, energy, patterns of movement and interactions. The vivid and immediate recording was made direct to quarter-inch tape at the Streetlevel Photoworks Gallery, and is released on CD-R in an edition of 100 handmade copies (see iorram.blogspot.com for availability).