This double LP, featuring sessions that
Brown recorded with
Wadada Leo Smith in 1970 and Elliott Schwartz in 1973, is weird, expansive, and a little puzzling. Though it's missing the obvious spiritual overtones,
Duets treads on the same psychedelic jazz turf previously occupied by
John Coltrane's
Kulu Se Mama and
Pharoah Sanders'
Karma -- anything goes, and the more unusual instruments, the better. "Soundways Part 2," for example, features everything from fiery solo saxophone cries to bizarre video-game synth outbursts to percussion tumbles to romantic-style piano improvisations to pensive clarinet bleats to
Sam Rivers-like ecstatic vocalizations, all performed in real time by
Brown and Schwartz. Despite the unusual instrumentation and a large number of unexpected and bizarre structural changes,
Duets hangs together surprisingly well. But even given the number of instruments the musicians play, the record feels a bit too sparse. There's a lot of energy here, and
Brown,
Smith, and Schwartz are all excellent musicians, but they're spread thin from playing so many instruments. Their non-virtuoso performances would work better in a larger ensemble, where the musicians wouldn't have to develop new ideas as quickly. Fans of the all-over-the-map approach that
Sanders,
Noah Howard, and
the Art Ensemble of Chicago often took from the mid-'60s through the early '70s will probably appreciate
Duets, but others may wish the album had been called Quintets or Sextets instead. ~ Charlie Wilmoth