Barry Guy, Roberto Ottaviano

"Autumn has always brought me bright thoughts and fruitful encounters. Barry and I, although we had known each other for many years — and although I had grown “into adulthood” musically through the influence of masters like him — had never had the chance to play and record together. Finally, October 2025 gave me this wonderful gift: an extraordinary meeting. Coming face to face with a champion of free improvisation placed me in a position where I had to draw upon all the creativity available — and even go beyond every barrier of sound. Including the use of my own voice. Like Barry, I have moved through many musical contexts, and the greatest lesson I have learned is always the same: in the absence of organizational schemes or precise idioms, one must “let things happen.” Not to place on the table a dry catalogue of effects, but only what is truly necessary — that strategy of alertness and responsiveness my friend Evan Parker once described as Tac-au-tac, a term borrowed from fencing. And when you play with Master Guy, the feeling of fencing is always present”.