| One third of the all wind trio New Winds and the man who redefined Jimi Hendrix’s music in a fashion that most thought was next to impossible, flautist Robert Dick is back with a new duo collaboration. The last great duo opportunity from flautist Robert Dick was his project with violinist Mari Kimura entitled Irrefragable Dreams [Random Acoustics]. This time around his musical partner is German pianist Ursel Schlicht. If you thought Dick’s music before was dire and overtly serious, wait until you submerge yourself into Photosphere.
Schlicht is an ideal partner to Dick’s delicate, oftentimes experimental flute work. Her strength lies in the fact that she prefers a textural approach as opposed to going heavy on melody. Much of the record is spent caressing the strings inside the piano. Sometimes all you’ll hear are gentle taps on the wooden casing of the piano itself. Dick responds in kind with multiphonic work, slapping his tongue against the flute’s mouthpiece or gently popping extended breaths that last a lifetime.
Excitement lies in seeing the duo follow each other into unknown worlds, listening to them as one follows the other and then seeing the role of the leader being passed from one to the other. If I could wish for anything from this already perfect record, it would be a healthy dose of tongue in cheek humour that Dick has dispersed on some of his previous works.
Tom Sekowski – November 2007
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