William Ruiz, Cheryl Pyle, Mahasen

For today's selection we have a lively interchange of percussion and flute on Mahasen (11th Street Music). William Ruiz creates a series of stirring Afro-grooves for various malleted percussion, primarily the African marimba and slit gong. The hypnotic ostinatos are punctuated by lyrically conceived counter-ostinatos by Cheryl Pyle.

The two dig into eight segments that ultimately constitute a varying but conceptually constant approach. Continuous pulsating percussion and sweetly articulated flute motifs work together for music where the sound architectonics hold sway over your listening self and put you pulsatingly forward into segmented space.

It has a continual present zone that occupies your ears with unflagging zeal. You put the music on and it does the rest. It proceeds on with deep rhythmic drive, putting you in a groovy place throughout. The artistry of both in this duo ensures that the results keep on coming at you happily.

Making this sort of thing work well is not at all easy. Ruiz and Pyle succeed fully in part because they stick to the game plan of wall-to-wall groove. It is some beautiful sound, a succinct triumph of the rhythmic arts. Check this out!