British free improviser hero Paul Dunmall, who celebrated last May his 70th birthday, and double bass player Olie Brice, who is a generation younger than Dunmall, collaborated in different formats – live and in recordings – in recent years but The Laughing Stone is their first duo album. Brice sees Dunmall’s work as a seminal influence on him as an improviser and recording this album was a dream come true for him. The album was recorded at Sansom Studios in Birmingham in November 2021. Dunamll also did the cover artwork.

The title of the album and five pieces are borrowed from poet Basil Bunting’s free-verse poem «Briggflatts». Like the poem, this album has a five-part structure and reflects beautifully Bunting’s belief that the essential element of poetry is the sound and that if the sound is right, the listener will hear, enjoy and be moved; and that there may be no need for further explanation.

Dunamll focuses on a distinct instrument for each piece – the tenor or alto saxes, clarinet and flute, while Brice most of the time plays pizzicato. The five pieces are open and free-associative conversations, that flow organically and reflect deep, emphatic and joyful listening. Dunmall and Brice play with engaging ideas but never subscribe to a familiar or conventional mode of interplay, and simply enjoy the stimulating tension of this masterful free improvised meeting. And the sound of Dunamll’s reed instruments and Brice’s bass is so warm, natural and right, so we, the listeners, need not ask for more.

Eyal Hareuveni

Paul Dunmall (ts, as, cl, fl), Olie Brice (b)