On the surface, two acoustic guitar-toting musicians and little else may not sound like the most enticing proposition. However, read the name Ryley Walker, and you may be aware of some of his highly regarded jazz-folk-rock output, such as Primrose Green and last year's wonderful Golden Sings That Have Been Sung. 60s/70s pastoralism has been to the fore in his work, as it has for his Chicago buddy Bill MacKay, a lesser known musician, but one who has released a number of albums, as a solo artist and with various bands, over the years. Both artists are central figures in the Windy City's folk and improvisational/experimental communities.

Having met at a mutual friend's party, they started jamming together. MacKay had a solo residency at The Whistler, where Walker would join him. The owner of the venue enjoyed it so much that he asked to be able to record it, the resulting album – Land of Plenty – eventually coming out on the bar's label, The Whistler.

With Walker's career on an upward trajectory, and with an obviously sweet chemistry between them, the duo decided to go for a second album. While Land of Plenty was a collection of the best material recorded live over a four night residency at The Whistler, SpiderBeetleBee was recorded in the studio over two days, albeit live, with no overdubs, and has been taken up by Chicago's legendary indie label, Drag City.

Like their first album, this is at times both austere and rich, playful and sad, dramatic and pastoral. They are friends together on a journey around the globe, musically speaking, as they dip their toes in the waters of baroque, folk, blues, raga, classical, western prog, and blues. While their improvisational sensibility is still there, this is a much tighter, and structurally arranged work, with all but two songs less than five minutes in length. There are also a couple of guest musicians here, adding gently warming spice to this instrumental brew.

Album opener 'The Grand Old Trout' sets the scene. Spacious, pastoral folk-jazz, baroque even, with repetitive guitar melodies, interspersed with moments when MacKay's and Walker's acoustic guitars play off each other, but always staying within tight bounds. There's a delicacy to both their playing throughout, whilst sounding alive and with a beating heart.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist Katinka Kleijn features on a couple of tracks including the subtly early music tones and melodies of 'Pretty Weeds Revisited', a typical MacKay/Walker composition, whereby there is a traditional modern song structure (verse chorus, bridge etc) but without words. These aren't noodling jams, or feature orgiastic moments of showmanship for its own sake. These are well thought out pieces, with hooks aplenty. Here, there is an extended passage midway, but the motif keeps coming in and out of the playing. Other songs are simpler still; such as the two minute, freely-flowing 'Lower Chestnut', and the similarly short 'I Heard Them Singing', this one swinging a little more thanks to the tabla of Ryan Jewell and the five-string requinto of Mackay.

The Walker-inspired composition 'Stretching My Dollar in Plano' is more rhythmic, pacier, and repetitive, Walker adding some spacious slide work to the tumbling fingerpicking of MacKay, while 'Lonesome Traveler' is drowsy blues-folk in sound, neatly reflecting the wandering spirit of the title. 'Naturita' is the only time when they really expand on their improvisational and experimental nature, the first half featuring an array of harmonic sounds, before it slowly morphs into an unconventional jam of sorts that speeds up, slows down, and reverts back to the harmonic playing of earlier, before ending on a mixture of arpeggios and slide.

As individuals, both Walker and MacKay are very fine players. Together they make some kind of magic, that unidentifiable chemistry that allows for a refined intermingling that being solo just cannot achieve. Their mature, yet spacious complexity also allows for a certain rawness and wildness, helped along by the live nature of the recording, but also by the fact that these two aren't so much looking for that technical precision that can sometimes smother naturalness. They have a relationship and rapport that emits warmth, a blanket of calming acoustica, suitable for all seasons, and all times of the day.

Jeff Hemmings

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