TEA FOR TWO…
Acoustic guitarist Ken Hatfield teams up with warm baritone vocalist Eric Hoffman for a pastoral collection of originals and covers. The two are so calming that they can even domesticate Tom Waits, as evidenced on the plaintive take of “You Can Never Hold Back Spring”. The two get back porch folksy on “Nay Place I Hang My Hat Is Home”, with Hatfield strumming up a pretty intro to “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most”. The two create a rich moonlight sonata on their own “Lonely Nocturne” and stroll through “Juniper Street”. Casual conversations.
How about a duo between drums and bass? That’s what you get from double basser Joao Madeira and drummer Wagner Ramos for three songs, ranging form a marathon 33 minutes to a 45 rpm of 9. Obviously, we’re talking improvisations here, with Madeira rumbling and scrurrying over and under pickings and bowings on the minute “Raiz” while someone throws in a whistle around the softer scrambles of over half hour opus of a title track. Crickets and things that go bump in the night create a Hound Of Baskervilles mood on “Suberosa” while making you wonder if anyone wrote a transcription for this.