The Sign Of 4 (1997)

"In his illuminating book 'Improvisation: Its Nature and Practice in Music', Derek Bailey explains the shift he made from guitarist of all trades to purely free improviser. To do so, he dumped traditional connections to devise a spiky, busy, atonal approach from the ground up. Forget melodies, chords, even tempo; in their stead, Bailey unleashes torrents of harmonics, microtones, clipped chords, chance dissonance, scurrying fretboard scrabbles, and a complete disregard for standard musicality. This triple-disc set documents late 1996 exploits of a symmetrical quartet: Bailey and Pat Metheny (guitars), Pat Wertico and Gregg Bendian (drums and percussion). Alternately a metallic roar and an acoustic sparkle, the music is spasmodically dangerous. I dont like the piercing distortion Metheny uses to cut through Baileys wall of noise, but his acoustic and guitar synth work is nice, and the drummers shake, rattle, and roll on a laundry list of objects. Certainly not recommended for Pats pop fans." (Jazzshelf.org)