Sarah Hughes & Jon Collin - Live at Rhizome DC

Long-delayed vinyl pressing of a pre-pandemic performance recorded at the legendary Rhizome in Washington and first released as a CD-r a few years back. We know Collin well for his while-my-guitar-gently-squalls blues minimalism, and a treat as it always is, to hear him in dialogue with the subtle, impressionistic woodwind of Sarah Hughes is a true stop-you-in-your-tracks revelation that pushes this recording into the 'essential' category. Side A is a relatively restrained and desolate affair, sounding an awful lot like how it looks outside our window right now - a winter's landscape of skeletal trees and dreaded black ice skies. In these opening minutes, Hughes presence is only lightly suggested, as she punctures Collin's blues-y drone with a gentle pulse of woody warmth. Hypnotic as it is, it's on the second side where she really steals the show, improvising a swirling melody that cascades light across the otherwise icey clang before intoning a folky, wordless hum, both providing some kind shelter in the storm. Always knew we wanted more Jon Collin in the shop. We can add Sarah Hughes' name to that wants list now, too.