Silence

This album presents 7 duets by the great jazz pianist Mal Waldron (1925-2002) and David Murray (born in 1955), playing tenor saxophone and bass clarinet. They recorded it in October 2001, a year before Waldron passed away. I have never heard Waldron sound better in his solos: it’s as if he sums up a lifetime of music-making. He’s inspired by Murray’s presence and by the opportunity to stretch out on three Waldron originals. The interplay of his left and right hands on the piano during his solos is crystal-clear, the rhythms are challenging, and his fingers retained all his long-ago lessons in the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Beethoven sonatas, and stride piano. Murray, as always, is creative, has wonderful smoky tone in the low registers and complete control in the highest registers – plus, you get to hear him play bass clarinet on two long Waldron originals (and tenor sax on the other 5 tracks). Other duet albums without drums and bass may feature slack rhythms or aimless noodling, but not this one! Waldron’s comping holds Murray’s feet to the fire. Murray does not have the harmonic freedom granted by a pitch-less drum or the option of simply drowning out a subdued bass; you hear every note of the piano while Murray improvises. The two artists have to be on the same wavelength every second. It’s a great experience for you, the listener to hear the horn with one ear (so to speak), the piano with the other, and to focus on how they mix in your brain. Some other recent jazz CDs seem to use standards as padding to fill out the requisite 60 minutes, but not this one! Waldron and Murray’s improvisations maintain a high level of creativity on the 3 standards. Nevertheless, the two masterpieces on this CD are two of the Waldron originals: (1) “Hurray for Herbie” (honoring Herbie Nichols, who influenced Waldron), brooding, mysterious and tragic; with pungent dissonances, restlessly changing rhythms, and obsessive returns to the main melody. (2) Waldron’s best-known composition “Soul Eyes,” a long, beautiful, harmonically varied melody, followed by the long, lyrical lines of Murray’s bass clarinet, followed by Waldron’s piano, perhaps even more lyrical, followed by a joint effort of exceptional joy and intensity. The recording by Justin Time records is superb, with ECM-quality sound engineering.

David Murray and the late Mal Waldron..a truly inspired pairing. Like his duet recordings with Archie Shepp and Steve Lacy, Mal Waldron is a sensitive and creative partner. The choice of tunes is interesting..particularly Jean Pierre from the 80s Miles canon (not what you'd expect) but turned inside out and transformed into a great vehicle for improvisation. its a date that gets better with repeated listenings..like layers of an onion, nuances are continually revealed. And though the date is 7 years old, its timeless in intent. And David Murray, one of the monster horn players of his generation (maybe a bit over recorded) but always inspired playing. Buy this one.

This recording gives us two great and markedly different improvisers whose interplay bespeaks a deep musical and emotional connection. Had Murray and Waldron ever played together before making this recording? The one-page insert page accompanying the CD gives no information as to the circumstances of this collaboration.Every track here is a standout, but I'm especially drawn to the last four (which twenty-five years or so ago might have formed the two sides of a perfect LP). Waldron introduces an ascending half-step figure in the seventh bar of "I Should Care" that reshapes (or Waldronizes) the melody, and he and Murray recast the first four bars "All Too Soon" as a series of three-note phrases. "Jean-Pierre," one of the bright moments of Miles Davis' later years, is reharmonized into a gospel-funk extravaganza reminiscent of Murray's "Morning Song" (or Billy Preston's "Nothing from Nothing"). And finally, "Soul Eyes," whose lengthy coda suggests the joy these musicians found in playing together.A bonus: sound quality is extraordinary. Three cheers for Michael W. Huon and Olivier Huillet, who did the recording, and Bill Szawlowski, who mixed and mastered.

The first thing that will strike you about this CD is the wonderful recording of the sound. The Justin Time engineers should be commended for the recording, as it is clear and crisp. the music delivered is also superior, as one might expect from this pairing of artists. I have all the David murray CDs released since 1984, and this stands up to some of the best. The melodies and musicianship are top rate, both for the originals and the standards. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes Jazz in any of its forms.

This is a beautiful, beautiful album. One of the best by both artists. A melodic, hypnotic improvised groove!

Super top drawer Jazz DuoA marvellous combination of an old master & a young master