Eugene Chadbourne's review of Elton Park: Duets and Trios 2002

- 3.5 out of 4 stars -
Mike Khoury is a violinist from Michigan whose commitment to free improvisation has also involved releasing CDs of other performers on the Entropy label. His Detroit Improvisation imprint catalogs his own performing efforts, especially small groupings such as duets and trios. For his third volume in this series, he has assembled the Elton Park: Duets and Trios 2002 collection, presenting a bit more than a half-an-hour of jamming with alto saxophonist Carl Smith -- not to be confused with the country & western singer of the same name. If the saxophonist Smith was going to be mistaken for anybody else by his sound, it would be the great Albert Ayler. That fluent, extreme, lyrical, and folksy way of developing solo statements is all there, presented in understated groupings with violin, and sometimes drums and clarinet, in which the ensemble vibe nicely evokes the free jazz neighborhood of Ayler, Sun Ra and gang. Khoury is subtle, his background textures particularly complimentary to his partner, and some of his melodic lines as alarmingly sneaky as a ray of sunlight penetrating a broken set of window blinds. While many album titles in various genres have referenced parks, including the typographically similar Elgin Park, this is one recording including material that was actually recorded out in a park, a setting that Smith and Khoury apparently enjoyed meeting in, axes in tow. Wind noise and other atmospheric profundities thus factor into the personal communication obviously so dear to these players' hearts.
-- review by Eugene Chadbourne on AllMusic.com