CD OF THE WEEK

KENNY WHEELER & JOHN TAYLOR
Where Do We Go from Here? CamJazz
*****

When artists of the calibre of trumpeter and flugelhorn player Kenny Wheeler and pianist John Taylor get together, the main problem is to make sure there's enough tape in the studio. For these old friends and colleagues, as modest as they are gifted - and Wheeler is often diffident to the point of invisibility - are truly world-class musicians, touched at times by something close to genius. On this breathtakingly beautiful series of duets, superbly recorded in Italy last February, they may well have surpassed any of their previous collaborations; certainly, it's difficult to think of a better one than what they have achieved here.

Seven of the nine originals are Wheeler's, suffused by that elusive marriage of linear and harmonic thought which sets them and him apart. They're full of surprises, yet utterly logical and warmly personal, like the solos they draw from him and Taylor, whose own two pieces are redolent of the same qualities. And yet Wheeler and Taylor share something innate beyond those characteristics, evident throughout this sublime release, that constantly evades definition.

Although it's almost a cliché to say it, these are poet/dramatists whose musical storytelling evokes the human condition in all its beauty, sadness, steadfast courage and ultimate vulnerability. Where this great pair can go from here is impossible to say, but already it's clear that they have made one of the albums of the year. www.CamJazz.com

Ray Comiskey