There is a haunting beauty to the high-wire artistry of cellist Kathy McTavish and guitarist Richie Townsend, who together are the Cosmic Pit Orchestra.

High-wire art is art without a net. It requires participants to have not just the standard amount of digital dexterity but also possess an almost deft ability to listen and anticipate the linear improvisation of the other. The chance of failure outweighs the chance for success, so it's extremely rewarding when such artistry succeeds.

"Caught You Falling" is the latest in a series of recordings done "live" (no overdubs, no do-overs) in the Quaker Meeting House in Duluth. This disc, captured by Ron Ayers of Dodge Creek Studios, combines the players' output with the vibrancy of an old church. The duo's musicianship is combined with the "found sounds" of the clanging church pipes, singing birds, scurrying children and passing cars.

The almost East Indian sitar sound that Townsend produces on "Bending of Light" weaves back and forth with the cello like a braided chain. Each advances the melodic development, then hands it off to the other. There is an elliptical beauty in the give and take between musicians who are on the same wavelength and can almost telepathically transmit their innermost thoughts and feelings.

"Journey to Alaska" came from Townsend's father's last days as he faced the end of a battle with a terminal illness. Hope is mixed with despair, frustration and foreboding as the music seeks to communicate feelings where words fail. McTavish's yawning cello dissolves into a subtle foundation for Townsend's guitar that elicits a prayerful sense of hopelessness.

McTavish and Townsend started playing together two years ago when, with a band of drummers, they performed at the annual Art of Peace Festival.

With one hour of rehearsal, these skilled musicians were able to perform to a rapt audience. That they come from opposite musical backgrounds is startling. McTavish is a classically trained cellist with an ear for modern 20th-century composers (such as John Cage) while Townsend played in typical blues/rock bar bands.

These two instruments - acoustic cello and electric guitar with various effects - consistently give the sounds of nature. At times they sound like the craggy power of tectonic plates shifting deep in the earth before an earthquake. Then it's the rustle of the wind through birches. Next you're inside the eye of a hurricane or hearing groans from the depths of the ocean. These two musicians produce amazing textures.

"Unbound-Released" begins ominously with the guitar conjuring up images of thunderstorms on the horizon. The cello sounds sluggish whale calls from the sea bottom. Then, the piece becomes strident, building in tension before it releases and then recedes, producing a beauty in its resolution that I think can only come from music, not spoken words.

This live recording is a journal that shares two gifted artists in a deep, almost meditative, state who are communicating with every fiber of their beings. These are not 3½-minute pop tunes that can be recreated over and over again. These are completely unique pieces that, in that high-wire fashion, will never be performed exactly the same way again.

John Ziegler has worked as program and music director KUMD-FM for 31 years. He's produced seven compilation discs from some of his 3,500 in-studio sessions. He reviews music for the News Tribune. Reach him at johndziegler@gmail.com.

The Cosmic Pit Orchestra, Kathy McTavish on the cello and Richie Townsend on guitar, performs a set at Sir Benedict's Tavern on the Lake. The duo experiments with mingling the sounds of their instruments in their latest "live" recording, "Caught you Falling." [2007 FILE/NEWS TRIBUNE]