Customer Reviews

Duets

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tom and Dean are amazing technical masters of the vibes and bass guitar respectively, but heavy commitments to teaching and session work has kept them from following up 1979's stunning "Whistling Midgets." The reuniting of these two formidable forces should have been a joyeous occasion.

Unfortunately the duo format, using exactly the same instrumentation on every song (I know Tom's an equally-skilled marimbist) leads to a measure of listener fatique by the end. Don't get me wrong, the music is pleasant, occasionally showy, but nowhere as immediately appealing as on "Midgets." True, the bar was set very, very high by their last collaboration and maybe this one should have merited four stars -- but I was disappointed.

Incidentally, "Whistling Midgets" has been re-issued by Dan Dean Productions and is worth seeking out on his website.

Duets...but a very dull affair. Granted, vibes basically have the same sound other than vibrato, but there are many options for a bass to alter it's sound. It sounds as if they recorded the whole CD with the same set-up. They are great players, but I started to nod off halfway through the CD.

The song "Lines" is a great little tune to add to your jazz mix. I give that track 5 stars for an interesting and engaging "vibe". I agree with the other reviewers that you do not want to listen to this album straight through; the aural paucity of the 2 instruments becomes numbing. But each track inserts pleasantly between tracks by other artists in your jazz shuffle. I suggest that you first download "Lines", and if you like it half as much as I do, you might want to help yourself to "Giant Steps" or "So What?".