This is a recording of the two piano concert by Michael Snow and Thollem McDonas which took place January 31st, 2014 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in celebration of Michael Snow's lifetime retrospective exhibition.
Early on, Michael Snow took inspiration from the likes of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton and began playing piano professionally in the late 1940s. He was later involved with the development of free playing in Jazz, commissioning Albert Ayler and others to play on the soundtrack for his 1964 film New York Eye and Ear Control. Since the 1960’s, he has been playing in free improvisation ensembles. In 1974, he co-founded Toronto’s Music Gallery, where his group CCMC was the resident band until the early 2000’s. He has also made recordings and performed on solo piano. This recording is of a concert that took place as one of the accompanying events during Michael Snow Photo-Centric, a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s photographic works at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
After spending his 20s and 30s dedicated to grassroots activism, Thollem McDonas in the last 10 years redirected his focus back to his music, folding his myriad of experiences into his work. In this last decade alone he has played well over 1,000 concerts throughout N. America and Europe as a soloist as well in collaboration with hundreds of musicians, dancers, and filmmakers. He has released over 40 albums in that span as leader or co-leader on 18 different vanguard labels, to international critical acclaim.

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"A riveting recording of an one-off performance occurred during a retrospective exhibition about Michael Snow’s creative output of a lifetime." - Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes

"More like hearing two Cecil Taylors, rather than any conventional piano duo, the two utilize all parts of their instruments.Unexpectedly, the Canadian, who apprenticed playing classic jazz, sounds out a perfect stride piano lick which would have done James P. Johnson proud."
- Ken Waxman, The Whole Note

"...avant-garde material that will appeal to a more adventurous audience." - Jack Goodstein, Blogcritics

"On this record with Snow, we find McDonas playing as exuberant as ever. Constantly attacking, producing a constant flow of clusters, runs and patterns. I can’t figure out who is chasing who as Snow is equally involved in this restless meeting. " - Vital Weekly