[m^a(t)h]

Originally Posted by sonicl

The tap dancer who Derek Bailey peformed with was Will Gaines. There is an album called Rappin' and Tappin' on Incus, reviewed like this in The Guardian:

British-resident American tapdancer Will Gaines, a legendary Harlem hoofer from the swing era, celebrated his 75th birthday recently, in the company of musicians from all over the jazz spectrum.

Most bizarrely, the extraordinary Gaines loves working with the free-improvising guitar pioneer Derek Bailey, and this 1994 live recording in Holland catches the dancer's quicksilver footwork, percussive variety, uncanny ability to suggest familiar tunes, and strange symbiosis with Bailey.

Gaines taps while chattering animatedly on about Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly and the 1940s entertainment business for the first half of the set, and duets with Bailey's abstract metallic snaps, stealthy strummings and sliding dissonances for the second.

As if hypnotised by Gaines's inventiveness, Bailey sounds more conventionally swinging than usual, though maybe it's the dancer's ability to turn every sound he hears into swing. Gaines is also startlingly atmospheric in minimalist, slow-moving settings such as Glidin', quickly intensifying them with his airy energy. Bizarrely irresistible.

There is apparently footage of the two of them HERE. I say apparently because there is a firewall between me and the relevant site.

i would love to hear that...........