Audiences at Merkin Hall in New York (15 January 2006) and Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania (9 November 2007) probably did not imagine that the magnificent duo performing before them were living on borrowed time... This hitherto unpublished live record by pianist Mulgrew Miller (1955 – 2013) and trumpeter Roy Hargrove (1969 – 2018) recalls how these two were the guardians of a certain tradition which was neither affected nor backwards-looking. The title says it all: In Harmony. Hargrove, the Texan, and Miller, the Mississippi boy, each brought their local traditions, and their hours spent on church pews, the blues too, soul music and then this jazz which the pair studied, played, devoured, lived almost 24 hours a day... In this conversation, each artist brings life to the legacy of his respective idols (Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie or Blue Mitchell for Hargrove, Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock or Art Tatum for Miller), but above all, each listens intently to the other. The classical jazz repertoire which is so dear to them is attacked from all sides and their improvisations make for utterly daring sequences. On familiar standards such as What Is This Thing Called Love? by Cole Porter or Ruby, My Dear by Thelonious Monk, the beauty, virtuosity and freedom on display are simply unmissable. This is a valuable record. © Marc Zisman / Qobuz