"Grips documents a live performance and the first-time meeting between double bassists Amanda Irarrazabal (Chile) and Nat Baldwin (US). The show was organized by promoter Jessica Hallock of NYC Noise, aligning with a week of performances for Irarrazabal in NYC before attending a residency at Art Omi. The duo exchanged just a brief introduction before show time, yet as soon as they hit the stage, they interacted with the comfort and ease of long-time collaborators.

The set ranges from bursts of active interplay to delicate layers of drone, always expressing the flow of propulsive motion, while leaving the necessary space for subtle details to emerge. Both Irarrazabal and Baldwin have each honed their own distinct techniques over the years, traversing an array of stylistic experience. Grips displays their singular voices unified by a focused intensity and executed with unwavering, palpable joy."-TripTicks Tapes

"To conjure a magnetism from similar registers, the two basses differentiate themselves in offset spacing - moment-to-moment counterpoint and staggered transitions between themes - and comparable but complementary textures. A knocked pulse accompanies especially audible breath. A bowed propeller plane doppler whirr pairs with a serpentine line like buzzing flies. Melancholy arco melodies whinny next to a dancing satyr fluting. Chiming preparations, breath and voice, and the whole vessel, not just the strings, sound at some time. Each player appears particularly mindful of the position of the other in order to maintain these crosscutting relationships and continuously excite their environment."-Keitth Prosk, The Free Jazz Collective