Based on a longstanding relationship of closeness and mutual respect, this pair of luminaries from Melbourne, Australia, has been meeting up occasionally since the 1990s, resulting in Guthrie’s participation in Ambarchi’s acclaimed ‘Hubris’ and the release of the former’s albums on the latter’s Black Truffle label, in addition to a discreet document dated 2019 on Some Fine Legacy of a duo concert at the legendary Cave12 in Geneva – ‘Knotting’, as it is called. Based on an ever-evolving piece by Ambarchi entitled ‘Knots’, whose life has been perpetuated in new configurations, both solo and in collaborations, ‘Knotting’ remains, for now, the most immediate and speculative access to what this duo may bring to the Aquário stage. Guthrie’s insistent ride sustains Ambarchi’s subterranean guitar drones in a flow that gains rhythmic and harmonic propulsion in a mutual agreement between skins and cymbals stoked by free jazz fire and the cascade of sparkling electricity in Ambarchi’s explosion of notes. Not wanting to fix this moment too much as a harbinger, even with all the accumulated time and wisdom, but excited by it, we can always turn to the objectivity of both of this duo’s CVs. Between them, they have recordings on such influential labels as eMego, iDEAL, Southern Lord, Kranky, and Clean Feed, in addition to a collection of collaborations ranging from jazz musicians such as Evan Parker and Roscoe Mitchell, contemporary composers such as Sarah Hennies and Annea Lockwood, electronic musicians such as Mark Fell and Thomas Brinkmann, and other musicians without genre boundaries: Keiji Haino, Jim O’Rourke, so much personality. And if Guthrie has been a more than justified recurring presence at ZDB, this return with his compatriot brings even more reasons to celebrate. For everything that has already been written here, but even more so for everything that is yet to be witnessed.
BS