Gary Peacock, Marilyn Crispell - Azure (2013) [Official Digital Download]

"Azure" features beautiful duets by two great improvisers who proved their compatibility long ago. Bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marilyn Crispell made some outstanding music together in Crispell's trio with late drummer Paul Motian, but their duo project also has an extensive history, until now unrecorded. With their shared sense of lyricism, their individual compositional styles and their profound background in free playing, Peacock and Crispell are exceptional musical partners. The album, self-produced in upstate New York, home territory for both musicians, contains pieces written by each one, duo improvisations and highly inventive piano and bass solos.

The release of Azure, a duo recording by bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marilyn Crispell, may have been inevitable, but it sure was a long time coming. Peacock and Crispell have played together on tour for years, but this is their first opportunity to record as a pair. Under Crispell's leadership, they teamed with the late Paul Motian on two of the finest piano trio offerings of the last two decades: Nothing Ever Was, Anyway and Amaryllis. There are three tunes composed by each artist, three duo improvisations, and each has a solo track. Crispell's "Patterns" opens the proceeding on a lively note. A complex, knotty, muscle-flexing duet that is full of quick call-and-response motivic thought and counterpoint, it reveals the duo's considerable dialogic power. On the other end of the spectrum is Peacock's lovely, melodic "The Lea," which extends naturally from both the folk and blues traditions. He opens with his solo; it states its loose theme followed by his improvisation upon it for half the tune's length. When Crispell enters, she underscores the song-like nature of the piece, painting its frame with melancholy, minor-key chord voicings, and brief, luxuriant fills. The set's longest cut, "Waltz After David M," by Crispell, is elliptical and graceful with a gorgeous melody. Peacock's support offers avenues for more expansive – yet subtle – thought in the middle's long improvisational section. Though these pieces are quite satisfying, the duo's real poetic is displayed in their improvisations, especially the hypnotic "Blue," with Crispell's Monk-tinged chords and tight, angular lines. Peacock's playing reveals so much wood in his tone that it feels percussive – despite his continual bluesy, swinging riffs and vamps. The title cut that closes the proceeding is crystalline, full of space, elegance, and grace. It sounds like the seamless interplay between the two is not improvised but composed and arranged. On Azure, the effortless communication between these players is like a conversation that is so intimate it can, at times, feel as if the listener is eavesdropping. Hopefully these two will be motivated to do this again.

Tracklist:

01 - Patterns
02 - Goodbye
03 - Leapfrog
04 - Bass Solo
05 - Waltz After David M
06 - Lullaby
07 - The Lea
08 - Blue
09 - Piano Solo
10 - Puppets
11 - Azure

Produced by Gary Peacock and Marilyn Crispell. Engineered by Chris Andersen.
Recorded January and February 2011 at Nevessa Production, Saugerties, New York.

Musicians:
Gary Peacock - double bass
Marilyn Crispell - piano


Thanks to the Original customer!