The coming together of saxophonist John Butcher and drummer/percussionist Eddie Prévost in action is always exciting, but on this particular recording they have excelled themselves. Visionary Fantasies, as its title suggests, encourages its audience to dream as Butcher and Prévost summon up the spirit of William Blake, with just a hint of Aldous Huxley thrown in for good measure. This mix of ethereal sonic poetry and hallucinogenic dream state is born out through a series of remarkable solo and duo performances. Butcher’s ‘Twice More’ and ‘Tree Demons’ sound close to nature worship as his instrument flows unconsciously into birdsong – whereas on ‘Obsessional Enquiries’ Prévost rewinds an earlier gig in Canterbury, where a DJ was playing music in a club next door and the drummer worked this intrusion into his performance. Further trills, scrapes and dream action bubble to the surface on the three pieces that make up the duo’s three-part ‘Visionary Fantasy’ series. On ‘Part One’ a meditational mood sets in as Butcher and Prévost slowly push open new doors of experimentation together. The second part is equally exploratory, while the final vision is a brief (but beautifully balanced) exchange of improvised ideas that abruptly ends, plunging the listener into a shuttered silence.