Anthony Braxton is the most notorious exponent of the group of Chicagoans called the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, which includes Muhal Richard Abrams. So Duets is recorded with a spirit of reunion—Braxton, after all, did debut on an Abrams LP some ten years ago.

As usual, Braxton displays his versatility by playing a half-dozen instruments. Like the late Eric Dolphy, he develops skills in several instruments and plays tastefully in each, rather than attempting to broaden the range of only one. He acknowledges this debt to Dolphy by performing the late reedman's "Miss Ann." Played on alto, this is Braxton at his best.

On the three tunes he solely composed for this record, Braxton shows an allegiance not only to modern chamber music but to modern mathematics (he uses equations for titles). These compositions sometimes sound so precise that they're stifling. His clarinet work on side one's second track is so mathematical that his flawless execution detracts from the musicality of the rest of the album. Only Abrams' brilliant performance saves this song from running into an intellectual dead end. Another Braxton composition, however, features the composer on contrabass saxophone—here, he demonstrates an ability to swing even in the lower registers—while the final Braxton composition is a slow tune in which he plays so-pranino sax and contrabass clarinet. The album's longest selection, it's also the most interesting in terms of dynamics and textures. Abrams again performs beautifully throughout.

Duets 1976 includes a new treatment of Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag." Played at the faster tempo intended by Joplin rather than Joshua Rifkin's popularization, it is exemplary of the exuberance Braxton and Abrams must have felt about their reunion. (RS 235)

DAVID LESS