Back in October 2001, Jack DeJohnette had a day off during a tour with Keith Jarrett. So he seized the opportunity for a duo concert with guitar visionary Bill Frisell, at the Earshot Festival in Seattle . The engrossing result is The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers , the fourth album and the second ‘Art of the Duo' project from DeJohnette's fledgling artist-run label, Golden Beams. DeJohnette and Frisell first worked together on Don Byron's 1999 album Romance with the Unseen . “We immediately had a rapport, and we talked about doing more,” DeJohnette recalls. Frisell needed no convincing: “I have been such a fan of Jack's since the late '60s when I first heard him,” the guitarist says. “He's been such an influence and inspiration throughout my musical life.” If the album sounds like the work of more than two people, there is a good reason. “I immediately thought that the music lent itself to some studio production,” DeJohnette explains. “I called in my sound engineer, Ben Surman [son of the UK sax luminary John Surman]. I gave it over to Ben to decide how to add things, like the bass lines and ambient sounds and other percussion.” The bass parts on the title track and the vocal chants on “Ode to South Africa ” are just two examples of Surman's artistry (Surman also played a major role on DeJohnette's previous Golden Beams release, The Ripple Effect ). But the line between live and studio isn't always so clear on The Elephant Sleeps . Frisell recalls: “I was using my delay-sampler-looper to manipulate my own guitar sounds.” DeJohnette adds: “I used my electronic hand percussion, a Roland HPD 15. That also has gamelan bells, frame drums and extemporaneous sounds that I don't have names for.” For all its sonic ambition, The Elephant Sleeps never lacks for organic and deeply human interplay. DeJohnette plays piano on two pieces, “Storm Clouds and Mist” and John Coltrane's “After the Rain.” Frisell plays six-string banjo, in “a unique sideways style” (DeJohnette's words), on “Cat and Mouse”, “The Garden of Chew-Man-Chew” and “One Tooth Shuffle”. The two players explore deep and varied grooves on the opening title track as well as on “Entranced Androids”, “Otherworldly Dervishes” and “Ode to South Africa ”. On the brief but highly intriguing “Cartune Riots”, they unleash frenzied electronic abstraction. “You could almost visualize cartoon characters going nuts,” says DeJohnette. 11 Tracks. Recorded live at: The Earshot Jazz Festival, 2001.