Bassist
Charlie Haden has done a tremendous amount of playing in duo contexts (very little of it on the ECM label, however). This live recording with the remarkable pianist/guitarist
Egberto Gismonti is a fine addition to his duo resumé. Recorded at The Montreal Jazz Festival in 1989 and released over a decade later, the album mostly features noted works by
Gismonti, although two of
Haden's pieces also appear.
Gismonti plays guitar rather than piano on
Haden's "First Song," making for an interesting comparison with the version that graced
Beyond the Missouri Sky,
Haden's 1997 duet record with
Pat Metheny. Similarly,
Gismonti's off-kilter piano solo on
Haden's "Silence" contrasts richly with what
Keith Jarrett played on the same tune (on 1977's Bop-Be).
Gismonti's nylon-string stylings do recall
Metheny to some degree, as well as ECM labelmate
Ralph Towner, although his ten-string instrument sets his playing apart, particularly on the driving "Em Família." On piano, he's at his most virtuosic on "Lôro" and "Frevo." (A radically different version of the latter appeared on the album Friday Night in San Francisco, as a duet for guitarists
John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia.) ~ David R. Adler