Duo piano jazz recordings have been around since the early days of Albert
Ammons with Meade Lux Lewis to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn to Tommy
Flanagan joining with Jaki Byard. This teaming together of post moderns Vijay
Iyer and Craig Taborn during a concert at Franz List Academy in Budapest,
Hungary is a mix of “instant composing and spontaneity” although each piece has
its own specific and definable mood.
The four hands mix hunt and pecking with rhapsodic overtures on “Clear
Monolith” and create dramatic panoramas during “Shake Down.” The interplay
never gets cluttered as they climb up and down the hills together on the
grandiose “Life Line” and prance to the toyful bop of “Meshwork/Libation.”
Space is used well with high pitched notes sparkling like stars during
“S.H.A.R.D.S”. with the two gurgling into deep magma on the rumbling “Luminous
Brew.” They are touring together; this could be a fun one to see!
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