American-born saxophonist Keshavan Maslak (Kenny Millions) traveled to the Soviet Union in 1989, and while there toured the country, performing solo concerts for virtual handfuls of people and playing with Soviet musicians as well. These included pianist Misha Alperin, drummer Vladimir Tarasov (from the then-intact Ganelin Trio), and reedist Anatoly Vapirov. This disc is a record of some of those performances. There's no doubt that Maslak, or Millions, can play his ass off. He is a badass saxophonist with a wicked sense of humor. The first track, Kenny Praises the Mother, is a solo blowing session in which his scalar and intervallic inventions fluctuate wildly between tonalities. On Kenny Meets Misha Meets Hieronymous Bosch, Alperin's own sense of irony (entirely lost on his ECM recordings) responds to the surreal humor of Millions. What is essentially a Dudley Doright theme develops first into a Fats Domino romp and then a gypsy klezmer wail through vaudeville, ragtime, and bebop! You gotta know a tune is in for a working over when Millions is handling the melodic aspect of the harmony. It's funny as hell and bears repeated listening -- especially when friends become too serious. On the first of five duets with Vapirov, the wheels come off the whole enchilada. Together, these two have no sense of decorum, propriety, or anything else but wailing, ass-kicking, my-turn/your-turn improvisation, in which tonal invention and harmonic reality are things of the past. But what music it is! It is truly amazing in its technical and emotional reach, without a letup in the intensity for over 45 minutes. Finally, there is a duet with Tarasov beating the sh*t out of his kit with gleeful abandon, and Millions has finally met his match. He cannot contain his joy and bleats all over the place to let the audience know. Leo Fegin may not make any money on these weird little records he issues, but he certainly provides some of us with the luck to hear them and the verve and tenacity to seek them out with much pleasure; this one certainly fits that bill. As a result of his efforts, Kenny Millions has sold perhaps 30 albums and Leo Fegin's reward in heaven grows ever greater. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi

1		Kenny Millions Praises the Mother
2		Kenny Meets Misha From Hieronymus Bosch
3		One Million Little Russians
4		Two Million Little Russians
5		Three Million Little Russians
6		Four Million Little Russians
7		Five Million Little Russians
8		Kenny Talks Turkey With Vladimir
9		Kenny Searches for Zen