FunkFreak75 Two guitar virtuosos blending their sensitive-yet-fluid styles for an album of duets. It's hard to imagine anything better.

1. "Fable" (8:41) like a stripped down "Blue in Green." Absolutely beautiful in every aspect imaginable. (19.5/20)

2. "Avenue" (5:19) veering into the Spanish/Flamenco traditions. (And these guys aren't even Spanish! That's what I'm talking about when I use the word "virtuoso": an artist's ability to easily morph into a variety of styles while convincing the listener that that style is the one and only/best style that he/she plays.) (9.5/10)

3. "Sargasso Sea" (4:01) opening with discordant chords doesn't faze me: the sounds are too good. (It's kind of hard to make a 12-string sound discordant--unless it's out of tune.) Ralph's piano tinkers away beneath both 12-string and volume-pedal-controlled electric guitar. The construct is what I imagine a song made in which the musicians only play half of what is on the song charts: skipping half of everything in each measure. The sounds being produced the electric guitar in the second half, coupled with the discordant chords being played on the 13-string, are a bit weird and, to me, nonsensical. (8.75/10)

4. "Over and Gone" (2:51) four tracks, four guitars, starting with a classical guitar soloing over the gentle support of a second strummed classical guitar, but then the duo are joined by two steel-stringed acoustic guitars playing with and within the melody lines that make up the weave of this brief but beautiful song. (9/10)

5. "Elbow Room" (5:11) strummed steel-string acoustic guitar supports a soloing twangy, echo-effected electric guitar. Not my favorite though I love listening to creative, reactive rhythm guitar play like this. (8.66667/10)

6. "Staircase" (6:25) the same instrumental sound palette as the previous song with much gentler playing styles to both the acoustic guitar support and the twangy-electric guitar soloing. The song definitely gets better in the second half when only acoustic guitars are being played (again deploying more of a Spanish chord and melody structure and style as in "Avenue"). (8.875/10)

7. "Romantic Descension" (3:17) as suggested by the title, this is a duet of stunning beauty, supple interaction; two musicians expressing while on the absolute same wavelength. Even prettier than anything on John McLaughlin's tribute to Bill Evans, Time Remembered. (10/10)

8. "Parasol" (5:24) a song that sounds like something that might come from Pat Metheny: brilliant, erudite chord phrasing from Ralph's gentle and respectful acoustic guitar while John solos up top with his slightly twangy electric guitar. Piano joins in around the half-way point while the support guitar continues, eventually moving to the front for some Chick Corea-like soloing while the two guitars support with uncommon elegance. I'm not as much a fan of the melodies in this one, but the structure and respectful interplay is gorgeous. (9.333/10)

Total Time 41:09

What I appreciate the most about this album is the way the artists seem to prize beauty over flash and flair: the egos never became more important than the emotional inputs and elegant results of every song. I feel as if this is such a rare achievement in the world of music. Perhaps this is one of the gifts that Manfred Eicher and his ECM label were able to bestow upon the world: a label that seemed to value the way their published product soared and resonated above money, time, and egos; where timeless beauty was prized over commerce and fame. The only negative of taking the time to get to know this album (and write its review) is the fact that I'm looking for Jazz-Rock Fusion, not so much straight folk-jazz like this.

A/five stars; an album displaying the stunning connection between two guitar masters. It DEFINITELY doesn't get any better than this!

Sean Trane A guitar duo album, like there are a few hundreds in jazz’s history and this one doesn’t do much to add to the genre, and I must say, that it’s a typical ECM album, although I wouldn’t dream using this against the label, or the musicians.

Actually Sargasso Sea is an apt title for this type of album as it is a calm and no wind sea, where fast sailing is almost impossible due to the algae growing to the surface. Such a calm sea can be soporific to sail, the album is just as sleep-inducing. Don’t get me wrong, Abercrombie and Towner are two fine musicians who both play delicious guitar and the music on the album is beautiful, but so quiet that it induces slumber. Believe me, it’s not even out of boredom (well a bit, but not much), but it’s the nature of the music that provokes such a relaxation that it almost becomes new-age-type.

So we get a bunch of acoustic guitar tracks, or sometimes a guitar/piano duet, and the listener is set for calm uneventful run-through the album, except that at one point, one of the tracks is rather different and actually does the worst thing it can do: wake you up from your torpor. It has loud bangs and electric guitar, delays/echoes, effects, etc…. Elbow Room (that’s the name of the track) sounds so out of context from the rest of the album, that it sticks out like a sore thumb and makes it a clear “faute de gout”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite a fine track (I’ve certainly got nothing against it), should it have been placed on another album than Sargasso Sea.

Aside that clear flaw, SS is a typical acoustic guitar duo, one that could be interchangeable with Coryell and Catherine or so many others….Up to you to decide whether this is worth your investigation, but I wouldn’t bother.