The first and only recorded meeting between two absolute giants of the soprano saxophone - Steve Lacy and Joe McPhee - finally sees the light of day after 36 years! On June 9, 1977, Lacy and McPhee shared a double bill in Basel, Switzerland. Lacy invited McPhee to join him for a duet to close his set, and McPhee brought out his own soprano saxophone for what would become a historic encounter. The main part of Lacy's performance was issued on the classic Clinkers LP back in the day, but this final 20 minutes - The Rest - remained unheard, existing only on McPhee's personal cassette tape. Until now!

This is intimidating music in the best possible way! McPhee had been playing saxophones for less than a decade at this point - he started on trumpet and only added reeds in 1968 - yet here he is, going head-to-head with one of the absolute masters of the soprano saxophone, a musician who had worked with Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor, who had developed one of the most distinctive compositional approaches in all of improvised music. The simpatico meshing of their distinctly individual voices points toward a shared history on a different plane - two improvisational architects operating with complete mutual respect and deep listening.

The music moves through fragments of Lacy's tune cycle "The Way" and singsong vortices, ending up in breathy clambers and pinpricks mirrored by ghostly tape flutter. Both players are jovial in conversation, carving out spaces for one another, but their differences in approach are stark - Lacy the melodic abstractionist with his painstakingly detailed compositional structures, McPhee the pure-sound improviser influenced as much by Albert Ayler as by Lacy himself. The result is an obliquely parallel relationship, togetherness and opposites existing simultaneously. This is soprano saxophone dialogue at the absolute highest level!

Yes, there's a bit of print-through, dropouts, and hiss on the tape - McPhee's cassette was the only known copy - but who cares! This is a document of two masters in real-time creation, pushing each other into new territories, exploring the outer limits of what the soprano saxophone can do and say. A fascinating view into the working process of two giants who only played together this one time. Essential listening for anyone interested in the soprano saxophone as a vehicle for serious improvisation!

One-sided LP with stunning cover artwork by Judith Lindbloom. Limited edition. Download coupon included.