Laying Demons To Rest is an accomplished & skilful example of the improv form that brings together English guitarist Fred Frith &  Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva. The single forty-one-minute track effortlessly shifts from the fiery ‘n’ angular to the moody ‘n’ atmospheric,

The CD release appears on Paris-based jazz label Rogue Art- presented in the labels minimal house style digipak, which on its outside features just black & red texts set on a white backdrop. Inside we get a write-up about the track's performance and two black & white pictures of the duo.
 
The live recording took place on August 27th 2021 at Motoco, Mulhouse, France as part of that year’s Festival Météo. The recording is a wonderfully clean & crisp affair, and really you wouldn’t know it was a live recording- as the clarity is so wonderful & balanced.
 
The piece opens up with tight fly-like horn buzzing, which is blended with rapid guitar scrapes ‘n’ rubs. As it progresses, we move from drifting pitch uneasy ‘n’ felt wailing, onto mixes of gunning strums & powerful billowing. Through to atmospheric tolling picks & weaving honks, onto seesawing clutters ‘n’ chugs shifted by playful piping darts. 
 
Over the pieces runtime, the pair seem to effortlessly shift from abstract and angular, onto atmospheric at times hauntedly harmonic. With the whole thing been a rather rewarding and varied sonic journey- all making for a most compelling ride.
 
I was of course very much aware of the work & considerable talents of Mr Frith, but this is my first taster of Ms Silva’s work. And I must say she is a wonderfully creative sparring partner for the guitarist. I will most certainly be tracking down more of her work.