Ena / One

A really gripping sense of narrative runs through this hour-plus live performance by two Slovenian improvisors. Lazar plays piano with a range of styles that draw as much from European folk, vaudeville and melodramatic silent movie accompaniment as they do from Improv. Kaučič is a master percussionist, active since the 1970s, who has worked with the likes of Paul Bley, Evan Parker and Oliver Lake. Here, he manipulates an array of ground drums, metallophones and gongs, building elemental sounds that might have originated anywhere in the world any time in the last ten thousand years or so. Lazar shows a keen instinct for prepared piano at just the right moment – adding crystalline droplets to a tinkling chime, or a haunted harpsichord creak to the doleful clang of a bell. Even in the quietest moments, the momentum never flags for a second.The WireKaučič’s duet with Milko Lazar is cutting edge material, exploring inventive ideas and conversing spontaneously. Sequences are formed off the cuff and entwined into complex mazes. The sonic expressions created by the musicians are innovative, displaying the pair’s dexterity to engage in lively exchanges.www.axs.com