Chick Corea & Hiromi – Duet – Concord Records 30735 (2 CDs) *****:
What a treat! Two of the most interesting jazz pianists today, at their two grand piano keyboards. I’m a pushover for any two-piano effort, but this is a very special one. Horomi played with Chick the first time when she was just 17, and after they performed together again at the 2006 Tokyo Jazz Festival Chick suggested they make a CD together; this is it. It happened live at the Tokyo Blue Note jazz club before an audience of about 600. They recorded ten tunes (or at least that’s the number that made it to these two CDs) and from the photos appear to have had a grand time doing it.
The program includes three originals by Hiromi and four by Corea, closing out with a 12-minute extravaganza melding – has has been done several times previously – Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez theme with Corea’s own Spain. Bill Evans, John Lennon, Antonio Jobim and Monk are also represented. The pair really dig into Monk’s Bolivar Blues. The longest track is the evocative Hiromi selection Old Castle, by the River, in the Middle of a Forest. The pianos’ sounds are well-captured; this is a delight to listen to on headphones, accenting the spatial separation of the two pianos.
TrackList:
CD 1 – Very Early, How Insensitive, Deja Vu, Fool on the Hill, Humpty Dumpty, Bolivar Blues
CD 2 – Windows, Old Caste by the River in the Middle of a Forest, Summertime, Place to Be, Children’s Song #12, Concierto de Aranjuez/Spain.
– John Henry
