These kinds of collaborations between empathetic giants is what makes jazz one of the gifts from God. Chick Corea and Gary Burton, no strangers to summit meetings, get together here for a collection of standards and, except for a pairing with some strings on a lovely “Mozart Goes Dancing,” stick to conversant interplay like two long time friendly scholars going back and forth discussion their favorite topics. Which, if you think about it, is what they are actually doing on saucy material like “Chega de saudade” or “My Ship.” A couple surprises like “Eleanor Rigby” work like a charm, and the title track shows the intrinsic love of all things bopping that is inherently missing in so many of today’s artists. The joy, love and enthusiastically adroit interplay here serves as an summary of what the life of an artist should sound like.
Concord Jazz