The high impact duo of Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) and Ken Vandermark (reeds) has been working together at an accelerated rate since 2002, and they have put out seven albums of exceptional and wide ranging improvised music since then. Though they have both worked in many critically acclaimed groups- from the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, Lean Left (with Terrie Hessels and Andy Moor of The Ex) to Double Tandem (with Dutch saxophonist, Ab Baars)- they have continued to return to their duo for more than a dozen years because it remains crucial to their creative output.

Nilssen-Love and Vandermark began this collaboration when they recorded their initial album, Dual Pleasure, for the label Smalltownsupersound. Shortly afterward, they performed their first concert at the Molde International Jazz Festival. Since then, they've performed on an international basis every year- in Europe, North America, and Japan. Their approach to the duo context is ferocious in its intensity, combining extreme rhythmic velocity with formal deconstruction and re-assembly, and a freedom to use any genre at any time. In many ways, Nilssen-Love and Vandermark are more open this setting than in any of their other playing situations, creating a unique approach to improvised music that is riveting for both its ideas and execution.