Customer Reviews

Concord Duo Series Vol 3

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Clarinetist and tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski and guitarist Howard Alden are good friends and great musicians, so Concord's decision to pair the two on this live CD from Maybeck Recital Hall was a natural. In just over an hour, Alden and Peplowski romp through 11 standards by such diverse composers as Rodgers and Hart ("Blue Room"), Charlie Parker ("Chasin' the Bird"), Cole Porter ("Just One of Those Things"), Bix Biederbecke ("In the Dark"), Rainger and Robin ("If I Should Lose You"), Denniker and Razaf ("S'posin'") and DeRose and Parish ("Deep Purple"). Their play and their comments show they had fun recording the tunes. You'll have even more fun listening to them.

Take Ken Peplowski, the best jazz clarinetist playing today; hook him up with Howard Alden, a masterful guitarist; give them a set of songs ranging from Jelly Roll Morton's "Why," to Lennie Tristano's "Two Not One," from Bix Beiderbecke's, "In the Dark," to Charlie Parker's "Chasin' the Bird;" put 'em in the Maybeck Recital Hall, (a redwood-lined performance space that barely seated 50 enthralled jazz lovers); and what do you get? You get this album!

Albums like this are the reason that record companies go to the trouble of recording live music. The musicians are "simpatico;" the playing is uniformly inventive and technically excellent; the song selection nigh on perfect; Messrs Peplowski and Alden and the audience have a great time; and the sonics, (courtesy of Concord's field recording team), are excellent. What's not to like? And hey, you just can't have too many clarinet/guitar duos in your CD collection.