In the desert at an obscure monument this is as much performance art as a concert. A tour de force by two veteran saxophonists who each have a track record of pushing ever onwards to explore the extremes of their instruments, there is a stark Ayler-esque beauty here and plenty of soul searching. Gone are conceptions of conventional melody, rhythm, timbre. Instead there is a stillness in the face of the epic spaces of the desert and the mystery of James Magee and his art.

I do not think that this is difficult music but nor is it easy music. It, however, rewards patience and a certain surrendering to the undertaking itself and for both Joe McPhee and John Butcher it becomes a kind of self-portrait given the level of exposure to the nakedness of their craft. That self-portrait is all about the act of daring and seeking. As epic a piece of avant free improv to have come along for a very long while. SG