Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway Live at The Bakery – A Duet of One – IPO Recordings

by | Apr 22, 2009 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

Eddie Daniels and Roger Kellaway Live at The Bakery – A Duet of One – IPO Recordings IPOC1015 *****:

There seems to be a trend of some sort in jazz duo recordings – two pianos, trumpet and piano, flute and piano, etc.  The improvisational chops of the two performers are brought into bold bas-relief without the bass, drums, guitar etc.  When you take two virtuoso performers like clarinetist Eddie Daniels and pianist Roger Kellaway – who did their first duet stint together 20 years ago – you have a duo combination that can’t lose.  Fellow clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera observes in his worth-reading notes that their music often sounds like the same single performer is playing both instruments at the same time. That remark obviously gave birth to the CD’s title.

Other points for this delightful disc are that it was recorded live at The Bakery in Los Angeles (in 2005) for a level of excitement not often heard in studio productions, and that the striking black & white photography in the album is by the great jazz photographer William Claxton. The ten tunes are subject to the duo’s spontaneous improvisations, which are prime examples of the flowing creative juices that go into the best jazz performances.  There are six original tunes, by either Roger or Eddie, the rest being standards. Eddie’s Adagio Swing is inspired by Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor – reminding us of the classical backgrounds of both performers. The duo’s fantastic work on these ten tracks may make you less amenable to the same-old-same-old interpretations on many jazz albums. Recorded quality is also first rate.

TrackList: I’m Getting Sentimental Over You; Slow Dance; Adagio Swing; I Want to Be Happy; New Orleans; This is The Time; After You’ve Gone; Blue Waltz; Love of My Life; We’ll Always Be Together.

 – John Henry

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