Vibraphonist Gary Burton told a Barbican audience last summer that when he was asked to do a duet with pianist Chick Corea, 35 years ago, his first thought was: "Nobody wants to listen to just piano and vibes for an hour." The subsequent reunion concert by the pair confirmed not only that a full house wanted to, but that it would stand and cheer this walking-on-eggshells music. This double CD caters for both the converted and the doubters Burton originally anticipated: half the tracks are just for piano and vibes, the other half have the support of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra playing Tim Garland's arrangements of jazz classics and Burton's and Corea's regular duo material. On the title track - a shapely, wistful tune with an optimistic resolution - the reticent sighs and eventual consoling flurry of the strings mesh delicately with the duo. There are similarly empathic episodes on the intricate Love Castle. But the castanets, stamping strings riffs and snorting brass on the Spanish-tinged La Fiesta and Duende border on caricature. The vibes-and-piano half of the set is the most hypnotically engaging: intimately integrated and gleamingly precise, yet free. Corea and Burton, both consummate virtuosos, are at the peak of their improvising game here, and the double-disc set is worth it for their dialogue alone.
Contributor
John Fordham
John Fordham is the Guardian's main jazz critic. He has written several books on the subject, reported on it for publications including Time Out, Sounds, Wire and Word, and contributed to documentaries for radio and TV. He is a former editor of Time Out, City Limits and Jazz UK, and regularly contributes to BBC Radio 3's Jazz on 3
John Fordham
The GuardianTramp
