Hearing this beautifully absorbing short set, it seems surprising that trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and pianist and organist Amina Claudine Myers’ musical paths have not crossed more often. Both were associated with earliest days of the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and have had questing careers that bridge the avant garde, blues, gospel and diverse other forms.
Smith has had a higher profile of late, his three-figure discography expanding with every passing decade, and producing more, and more diverse, recordings rather than slowing down now he is in his eighties. His contemporary Myers, whose recorded legacy is less voluminous, was nevertheless honoured as a Jazz Master by the US National Endowment for the Arts in March this year.
And their striking, if awkwardly titled, duo meeting, recorded in 2021, more than bears out why she merits the accolade. Conservatory Gardens – most cuts are named after locations in New York’s Central Park – opens with gently ruminative piano chords, setting up an atmosphere pierced by Smith’s pealing trumpet statements. The nine-minute dialogue that ensues is very much a conversation of equals, two relaxed masters taking an afternoon stroll together, until Myers plays them out with some upper register filigree, as from birds in the bushes.
That unhurried approach, so laid back the pair are almost supine, prevails through the other Central Park pieces – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservation, with Myers enriching the mix on organ; Central Park at Sunset, an elegiac piano/trumpet duo; and The Harlem Meer, with muted trumpet contrasting with Smith’s bell-like clarity elsewhere. When Was, a solo piano excursion which makes one wish for a whole album from Myers at the keyboard, and dedications to Albert Ayler and John Lennon complete the set without breaking the mood.
Improvising duos can pose special demands and promise special rewards. Each partner is somewhat exposed, but can give full attention to just one other, while the listener can follow every detail of their interaction. Trumpet and piano duos are relatively rare, though there are fine specimens from, for example, Dave Douglas and Uri Caine, Enrico Rava and Fred Hersch, Kirk Knuffke with Jesse Stacken, Paolo Fresu and Omar Sosa and – not so long ago – Smith himself with Vijay Iyer. This late contribution, from two players who bring lifetimes of experience to bear on simple materials to work up some marvellous joint creations, uses space and silence with rare skill to craft a worthy addition to the list.
Release date 10 May 2024
Jon Turney writes about jazz, and other things, from Bristol.
