The pairing of avant-garde cellist
Ernst Reijseger with post-bop pianist
Franco D'Andrea provides anything but predictable music.
D'Andrea is unaccompanied for a boundary-stretching approach to
Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood." The leader begins
Cole Porter's "Night and Day" alone, gradually working through variations on repeated arco riffs until the pianist makes a delayed, sparse entrance.
D'Andrea's percolating Latin-flavored "Two Colors" is more accessible, though with a constantly twisting theme.
D'Andrea's rather freewheeling "Afro Abstraction" shows that he is completely comfortable in a free jazz setting, with
Reijseger playing soft accompaniment and a bit of percussion on his instrument. Dutch pianist
Misha Mengelberg contributed the quirky "Complex Eight," a humorous piece that defies the expected paths. Recommended. ~ Ken Dryden