Although following closely on the heels of Dean’s recent ‘Moorsong’ cd this is a set recorded several years before, at London Jazz Café in November 1992 to be exact. It features the duo that closed ‘Moorsong’ with Hewins on acoustic guitar and samplers/Casio PG 380 synth guitar.

That last piece of equipment provides all manner of sounds for Dean to improvise around, from bells to drones and birdsong. So has the old fiery flee-blower gone ambient ? Not really. What this album shows is something I’ve believed for a long time, namely that Dean is a master of the torrentially melodic improvisation. He did it with Soft Machine and Keith Tippett – remember ‘Green And Orange Park Night’ if nothing else ! And his work with Ninesense bears witness to his propensity for the shapely and tuneful solo.

This opens with the title track and some dark droning from Hewins over which Dean spaces out the purest notes. As if in answer the acoustic guitar picks this up and the two players briefly tangle in an intensely lyrical duet. It is only the start of a sustained and creative interplay and lasts near 25 minutes. According to the album notes some of the sounds Hewins teases out of the Midi technology surprised Dean but it doesn’t show as he responds to each emergent noise with deft leaps of melodic invention. If Hewins synth guitar chimes, like gently struck metal bowls, the sax replies with equally mellifluous tones.

‘Sylvan’ begins with imitation sitar sounds from Hewins, as though setting the tone for a pastoral raga. There is a lot of activity from the bass notes building up a powerful undertow for Dean to vault and glide effortlessly over. And amid all this densely melodic invention they still leave spaces; there is no ferocious ‘let’s fill every minute’ playing here. I’ve heard Dean many times in many settings but in this one he seems free to develop ideas endlessly in a way that seems different. Perhaps it’s the lack of other players, or the fact that he has so much space to move in, or maybe its Hewins’ prompting and suggesting sounds and moods that give his explorations that freshness. I don’t know but it is constantly listenable .

The third track, ‘Merilyn’s Cave’ sounds harsher initially but also contains the previously mentioned birdsong twittering behind Dean’s keening sax. Hewins continues to build soundscapes which sound nothing like guitar but bear some resemblance to church organ or, at one point, a riot of electronic birds taking flight over brooding water. Well, that’s how it sounds to me. The moments of abstraction here offer an interesting contrast to the other two tracks and toward the end the bending synth notes momentarily reminding me of the late Alan Gowen.

Over the space of 50 – odd minutes the duo cover a constantly shifting terrain and the blend of acoustic and electronic sources is one that works well. It is a welcome addition to the catalogue of the ex-Soft Machine man and amply highlights the considerable abilities of Hewins. Let’s hope they decide to release some more.