Alister Spence - Mythographer (2023)

Mythographer showcases the connection between Alister Spence and Tony Buck; two endlessly curious, deeply committed, distinctive, improvisers. Spence and Buck share a fascination with submerged rhythm, oblique extended forms, entwined interplay, and sound for its own sake. As contemporaries their musical histories have run in parallel—and occasionally intersecting—for the last thirty years. For the last five years or so they have been enjoying re-connecting musically.
Both musicians have so much to bring to the table from their wealth of musical experience, offering each other the opportunity to dig deep into their vocabularies in order to engage in genuine, interactive dialogue. Whether playing wide-ranging abstract improvisations, swinging driving pieces, or more reflective soundscapes the pair manage to find focus and form wherever the music takes them.

Recorded in one very productive afternoon session in Sydney’s 301 studios, 14th January 2022. Engineer Tim Whitten.

‘From this first piece, he [Spence] takes us with him in his mental puzzles without ever losing us on the way. This is the talent of the pianist. We are constantly hooked, hanging on to our choices. The music breathes, stretches, undulates, resonates.’ Julian Aunos, Citizen Jazz