Customer Reviews

Closeness Duets

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Let's start with the obvious: Bass duets are not everyone's cup of tea. That said, Haden is a very lyrical player and this recording has more appeal than many would expect. The programmers were right to start the disk with the duet with Keith Jarrett: the piano-bass combination is the least unusual, Jarrett has a lot of commercial appeal, and the duet itself is based on the kind of contemplative theme well-suited to Jarrett's style. The next duet is a bluesy romp with Ornette Coleman. Back to the quieter more lyrical mode in the third duet with Alice Coltrane on "For Turiya." Some may be familiar with this piece which also is performed on the Haden-Garbarek-Gismonti "Folksongs" album. The final duet with drummer Paul Motian uses revolutionary song recordings and harkens back to the avowedly political music of the Liberation Music Orchestra. All and all a very appealing disk.

If you like this set, you might be interested to note that this was originally a double disc set on Horizon records (catalog #'s 11 & 26) from 1976. The CD re-issue of the other disc is titled THE GOLDEN NUMBER and features duets with Don Cherry, Hampton Hawes, Archie Shepp and Ornette Coleman (again). It should have been similarly titled 'THE GOLDEN NUMBER' Duets, for clarity's sake.

Great performance from Haden with Keith Jarrett,Ornette Coleman,Alice Coltrane,and Paul Motian.