MASTER MUSICIANS OF MU Paul Dunmall, border pipes (track 1, 5), sop saxe (2, 8, 9), tenor comemeuse (3) double bamboo pipe (4), tenor sax (6), soprano comemeuse (7). Philip Gibbs acoustic & electric gtrs. Recorded at Victoria Room Studio, Bristol, England. 12 Nov 1999 & 21 Jan 2000. SLAMCD 241 Bar code 5 028386 024125

1 Tom O'Bedlam 5m 32s 2 Beyond the Black Stump 11 35 3 Ioanes 3 40 4 Call to Prayer 5 40 5 Inside out Man 5 35 6 Dweller on the Threshold 12 48 7 Frenzy at the Delicatessen 2 53 8 Vril 10 53 9 So I must sharpen my sword-spike and then be off, nephew 3 11

WIRE, April 2002 Gibbs, from Bristol, plays electric and acoustic guitars. His belated first appearance on record sees him teamed with formidable reed player Paul Dunmall. Gibbs intends the title to suggest a fusion of ancient and modern elements, and it's evident that both players have an interest in folk traditions as well as in metropolitan free improvising. On 'loanes', for example, where Dunmall brandishes a cornemeuse, passages might be taken for a field recording of something age-old and communally sanctioned. Elsewhere border pipes and double bamboo pipes, as well as tenor and soprano saxophones, are used.A nod to Evan Parker and to Kathryn Tickell, maybe. Julian Cowley

Cadence, October 2001 This features the guitar in the most unlikely pairs – with cornemeuse, tenor and soprano saxophone, and border pipes. Unlike Paul Dunmall’s previous duo with Paul Rogers, Folks is completely open – though each improvisation is well-defined: ‘Call to Prayer’ (double reed pipe) is distinctly Middle Eastern, while ‘Frenzy at the Delicatessen’ (soprano cornemeuse) is postmodern klezmer. Dunmall is drawn to repetitive phrases circling out, stretched wide, then reined in. On ‘Beyond the Black Stump’, with Gibbs comping on the front, back and sides of his acoustic guitar, Dunmall’s rich, blues-inspired motifs are particularly inviting. Philip Gibbs is often set back behind Dunmall’s wanderings. On the saxophone pieces – which, according to Bruce Coates’s notes, are ‘more directly dialogical’ – the roles are clear: guitar accompanies horn. On tenor, Dunmall’s pointed sound and rapid-fire lines build up around an electric guitar that moves from Bill Frisell’s work on The Big Gundown to wildly eccentric rockabilly. But then the duo allows a spare, simple beauty to emerge; they’re unafraid of momentary pleasures, a beautiful tone, perhaps or a lyrical line. Gibbs is a hardy companion; part-time percussionist, melodist, and rhythm-maker, without much prompting he’s driving the pieces along, incessantly feeding Dunmall volleys or whispers, fuzz or cleanly plucked strings, whatever the moment needs. Greg Buium