Customer Reviews

Closer View

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A Closer View is a good title for this recording because listening to these two masterful musicians play together, one gets the impression that the listener is within extremely close proximity to, or perhaps has fallen into, the intimate world of sounds and emotions created. There is a strange, organic quality to this music of the kind one can only hear from jazz musicians who have played the standards, the post-bop music and who also play freely. In fact, a number of the tunes on this recording were improvisations where Towner or Peacock would start and the other would follow. They are essentially 'free' pieces where they think together, feel together and create simple melodies and harmonies with an unerring sophistication. Both Towner and Peacock have broken ground over the last 30 years but both have remained rooted in the language and emotional field of Bill Evans, Miles Davis and simultaneously, European Modernism. Both play music as though they were painters and story tellers - i.e. they play in the manner of all great jazz musicians.

Nothing is arbitrary and nothing is contrived or stylized though both are virtuosi in the practices of standard jazz music. These truly great artists are rare and we, the listener have this opportunity to hear their music in this quiet and intimate form. Only Keith Jarret in our day, can evoke such worlds of sound and simple beauty. The music in this recording is indeed pure mastery but more than that, it evokes the higher side of humanity.

The cover of "A Closer View" is a black and white abstraction. The music inside is neither black and white nor abstract. Each piece is a vignette, some emotional, beautiful pieces; others pulsing and singing. This is not strictly intellectual music--it grabs your emotions. Beautifully recorded, it has a feeling of being there with the two virtuosi as they improvise. Love that double bass! Highly recommended for fans of jazz, acoustic and classical music.

Towner and Peacock are masters of their respective instruments, and discover a truly sumptous array of nuances in entirely acoustic performances on this recording. In each tune, there always seems to be a melodic or harmonic suprise ready to jump out with every other measure. The first track in particular features some striking shifts between brooding wistfulness and sweet lyricism. This recording only seems more wonderful with repeated listening. It's probably the best recording yet by either performer. (Also check out their very successful previous recording called Oracle -- no relation to the database.)