derek bailey: improvisation

2012, 180 gram vinyl reissue with printed inner sleeve. "The godfather of improvisational guitar, Derek Bailey's praises have been sung far and wide by everyone from Pat Metheny to Karlheinz Stockhausen for having revolutionized the way the instrument was played over the last half of the twentieth century. Although fans are often frustrated by the low-fidelity of his earlier recordings, this 1975 LP (originally released on the Italian avant-garde label, Cramps), stands out in that regard. Recorded in an actual studio (unlike most of his early work) in Milan, for this session Bailey was apparently asked by his Italian hosts to define 'improvisation.' He then proceeded to give his answer in the form of these fourteen tracks (eight performed with electric guitar, five with six-string acoustic guitar, and one with a 19-string acoustic guitar).