The duo of Swedish trumpeter-flügelhornist
Jan Allan and pianist Jan Strinnholm performs 11 of the pianist's originals plus three standards on this duo set. All of the music is taken at slow tempos with
Allan's horns often being muted. This type of ballad project can be quite stimulating, but unfortunately the
Allan-Strinnholm matchup is rather dull. Not only is each of the songs taken at a similarly slow tempo, but the dreamy introspective mood never really changes and the musicians seem very shy. It is as if they are not only afraid to bother the neighbors, but they do not want to wake up the baby in the next room! From a listener's standpoint, there is very little of interest going on in this music, which lacks an inner intensity or much chance-taking, so the results never stretch beyond being background music. ~ Scott Yanow