Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon – Sixty Six Steps

Play it, Leo!

Escape is the plan on Sixty Six Steps, the second collaboration between veteran acoustic picker Leo Kottke and former Phish bassist Mike Gordon. Calypso subtly dominated the duo’s obliquely conversational cross-rhythms on 2002’s brilliant Clone, and here—via percussionist Neil Symonette—it’s drawn out fully. “Let the telephone ring,” Kottke implores on the perfectly breezy cover of Alex Harvey and Eddie Reeves’ “Rings.” Symonette’s presence—all wind chimes and airy grooves—feels unnecessary next to Gordon and Kottke’s interlocking dementia. Sixty Six Steps is easygoing to a fault, but who looks for faults while chillin’ on the beach?