On a fall 2012 coast-to-coast tour across the United States, a Dutch couple headed eastward from Seattle toward Brooklyn, their itinerary drawing them closer to New York as Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the Northeast U.S. They weren't merely enjoying a fall vacation -- multi-reedist Ab Baars and violist Ig Henneman performed 15 concerts along the way, including an opening-night set at Ann Arbor, Michigan's Edgefest, as remnants of Sandy dissipated above their heads. The storm forced some changes in the festival schedule but Duo Baars-Henneman went on as planned, performing their tour program of duets inspired by the autumn-evoking poetry of Blake, Yeats, Stevens, Basho, and others, and also by Charles Ives' song "Autumn." After the tour, Baars and Henneman recorded an album of these Autumn Songs at Amsterdam's Bimhuis, releasing it on their Wig label in February 2013. Quoted inside the CD package, Ann Arbor.com's Will Stewart praises Duo Baars-Henneman's Ann Arbor show under the headline Edgefest copes with Hurricane Sandy complications, improvises an outstanding start. A near encounter with Hurricane Sandy notwithstanding, Autumn Songs, like its poetic inspirations, doesn't primarily dwell on the season's stormiest aspects. That's not to suggest the album is entirely moody and contemplative; Baars squeals and squalls on tenor sax during his opening to "It Bends It Sways," inspired by Hoe Boven Alles Uit by Dutch poet Hélène Gelèns, and Henneman rips notes and sounds from her viola with a sometimes aggressive, abrasive attack.

1		Brows of Morning
2		Nine and Fifty Swans
3		Winter Comes to Hush Her Song
4		It Bends It Sways
5		Poor Autumn
6		The Clouds Go
7		Restlessly
8		Autumn in Maine
9		The Heavy Cargo
10		Rain Curtains

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