This is a presentation of two different live performances, the first from an Art Rock Festival—do those still exist?—in Frankfurt in 1989 and the other from the Kniting Factory, still in its original East Houston Street location in New York City, in 1990.

Bill Frisell is playing duets with his longtime friend and collaborator Wayne Horvitz, who deserves a lot of credit for often being a whole band instead of just a keyboard. There are certainly some guitar/piano numbers that are pretty straightforward, such as their rendition of Henry Mancini's "The Days of Wine and Roses".

But Horvitz also plays samplers, synthesizers and uses programmed drum parts so he and Frisell, but especially Frisell, can really cut loose.

Listening to this made me nostalgic. I moved to NYC in 1990 and quickly became obsessed with Bill Frisell, thanks to my brother's influence. And he was soon to evolve from this particular phase of his playing. But it was such a strong artistic vision and so unique to him that the first track alone, even the first few seconds, brings me right back there.

Studio records are fine but there are so many great live performances out there that were well recorded and deserve your attention. This is definitely one of them.