Here are a pair of albums that show the interplay between two artists. Communication is everything here!
Kenny Wheeler brings his trumpet and flugelhorn to bat with pianist John Taylor for a collection of mostly originals. Wheeler’s horn is Herb Alpert warm on melancholic pieces such as “Caner #2” and bel canto with a Bill Evans-ish Taylor on “Quiso.” Taylor does some percussive tricks with the piano strings on some tunes, all with Wheeler on a mute as on the moody “Sketch No. 2” and the tensile “Sketch No. 1” while Taylor sounds almost like a guitar on “Sketch No. 3” The team sounds spacious on the serenading version of Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower is a Lovesome Thing” and playfully prance on “Fortune’s Child.” Impressive!
Violinist Lara St. John meets up with pianist Matt Herskowitz for fourteen pieces that mix classical, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. A hint of Liszt swoops in on “Czardashian Rhapsody” and lots of European folksy vibrato is displayed by St. John on the festive “Oltenian Hora” and the agonizing “Naftule Shpilt Far Dem Rebn.” Herskowitz’s piano dramatically prances on “Ah Ya Zayn” while they both sound dreamy on “Sari Siroun Yar.” Modern violin harmonies are displayed on “Nagilara” or is it just traditional Shtetl sounds? Bel canto arias are in abundance here.