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LP
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RM 4226LP
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Evening Air is the result Loren Connors and David Grubbs's first trip to the recording studio in the two decades since their first duo album, Arborvitae (Häpna). Arborvitae stood out for its spell-binding, utterly unhurried meshing of electric guitar (Connors) and piano (Grubbs). With this long-awaited return, Connors and Grubbs take turns trading off on piano and guitar, with Grubbs at the keyboard for the two gently expansive pieces on the first side and Connors taking over the instrument for three gorgeous miniatures on the flip, including an album-closing and perfectly heart-stopping version of Connors's and Suzanne Langille's "Child." The album's wildcard is "It's Snowing Onstage," which finds the two locking horns with two electric guitars before Loren blew the minds of all present in the studio by unexpectedly switching to drums. Loren Connors is one-of-a-kind, one of a handful of deservedly storied musical greats gracing listeners with their presence, and with Evening Air David Grubbs again demonstrates that he's a stellar musician who also ranks among the most simpatico of collaborators.
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CD
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HAPNA 013CD
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"The most surprising part is that it hadn't happened before. Loren Connors and David Grubbs first performed as a duo on May 30, 2003 at the Green-Wood Cemetery Chapel in Brooklyn, N.Y. Green-Wood Cemetery is one of Brooklyn's landmarks -- it's the highest natural point in the borough, and an unexpected expanse of tranquility in the midst of the city. The stone interior of the chapel makes the quietest of sounds audible, and Loren and David played a remarkably quiet yet extraordinarily varied hour of improvised music. Energized, they repaired to the studio to record Arborvitae. Arborvitae opens and closes with the pairing of David on piano and Loren on an electric guitar played so quietly that at times his pedal-stomping is wondrously distinct. 'Blossom Time' and the title track positively float, with Loren alternating between soaring single-note lines and playing the rough, barnacled anchor to David's relentless tide. David's approach to the piano recalls his playing on Palace's Arise Therefore (Drag City) and his own Banana Cabbage, Potato Lettuce, Onion Orange (Table of the Elements). Loren hypnotizes throughout. This is one of the rare instances in his career that he's recorded in a commercial studio, and his playing time and again rewards such a detailed representation. 'The Ghost of Exquisite' and 'Hemlock Path' are two slow-motion lockings of guitar horns. 'The Highest Point in Brooklyn' isn't the place to be in an electrical storm -- but it rolled in all of a sudden and there we were, uncovered and open to the elements . . . "
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