The title of this CD might imply that saxophonist
Dave Liebman and pianist
Marc Copland signify two jazz musicians who share similar visions and musical aspirations. The adage that like minds think along parallel paths serves as an underlying condition for the artists' third collaboration for the Switzerland-based hatOLOGY record label. This time, the instrumentalists work as a duo, performing a few originals amid modern jazz standards. They wittily reconfigure
Herbie Hancock's classic "Maiden Voyage," where the duo unassumingly sneaks the primary theme into the grand scheme of things. With this two-CD set, the musicians glide through a sequence of meticulously enacted improvisations amid a delightful and generally probing rendition of
Miles Davis' "Blue in Green," among other familiar works. Nonetheless, the artists' synergy seemingly sparks creativity here. Some of these pieces are marked by freely organized tradeoffs, to coincide with wistful melodies and bluesy dreamscapes. Sure, they turn up the heat on occasion, yet it is all about intuitive responses, delicately enacted frameworks, and memorable melodies, as they tend to collapse the history of modern jazz into a uniformly arranged production that most assuredly emanates from the heart. Strongly recommended.