Elton Dean, Mark Hewins - Bar Torque (2001)

This CD presents an improvised duo setting with guitarist Mark Hewins, a longtime partner with a remarkable talent for atmospheric accompaniment. The music on this release focus-es on the most lyrical' dimension of Dean's saxophone playing, with melodic outbursts inspired by and buoyed upon Hewins' delicate, dreamy, harmonic foundation. The aural path treaded by this uncanny pair of musicians is playful, unpredictable, and thoroughly original. Abstract but not amorphous, "Bar Torque" is improvisation at its most touching and universal. This will appeal to fans of alternative rock/pop (Radiohead followers take special note), electronica, experimental and otherwise esoteric styles, and, of course, jazz and progressive rock.