A series of visceral duets take place between pianist Lucian Ban and Alex Harding, who sports the baritone sax and bass clarinet on a collection of originals. Harding plays the bass clarinet on three of the tracks, and he’s sublime to Ban’s Satie-esque piano for “Black Sea,” gurgling to Ban’s sparkle during “Esto” and sighing on the rich “The Invisible Man.”
On the baritone, Harding gets down into subtone and is sometimes heard more than felt, as he puffs on the eerie title track, gets fuzzy on the lurking “Tough Love” and is gloriously sublime for “Chakra.” Each gent gets a chance at a solo performance, with Harding giving a moving tribute to Hamiet Bluiett for “HB” and Ban going thoughtful and reflective on “Lowcountry Blue.” Casual and yet personal.