Two artists at the top of their fields, clarinetist Anat Cohen and pianist Fred Hersch, somehow create a concert that is stronger than their individual parts, which is saying something. Recorded at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival on June 11, 2016, the concert is a symbiotic meeting of souls, minds and sounds, oozing with lyricism and empathetic improvisation. Cohen’s clarinet is a woody balm as she delicately intertwines with Hersch’s piano on the impressionistic “A Lark” while Hersch’s own “Child’s Song” is a delicate and elegiac collection of innocence and charm. Cohen cries like a cantor on her own “The Purple Piece” and swoops down into earthy subtones while the pianist floats like a buoy on “The Peacocks.” The two show their joyful bop chops as they bounce with delight on “Lee’s Dream” and playfully volley back and forth on “Jitterbug Waltz” and parry on “Isfahan.” The encore “Mood Indigo” is a lyrical delight, with the entire album feeling like an rewarding conversation between two well educated and long term friends. A sonic delight… album of the year?