Swiss pianist Michael Arbenz‘s love of Duke Ellington has been well documented on previous album Reflections Of D. He also has a love of JS Bach and chose a live meeting with sax player Andy Sheppard to tie the two disparate yet distinctive loves together. The two players have known one another for some time, having collaborated in Michael’s previous trio VEIN, and this set recorded in June of this year finds them re-establishing a rapport that has warmth and intimacy in equal measure.
The sax is smooth as silk, almost bassoon-like in its tone as the album opens and they tackle Duke’s “Melancholia”. The sax flutters, its dreamy passages anchored by the patient piano until they drift away only to return again. It is light as a feather, playful and excitable with piano flurries raising the pulse a little. The pieces that Michael has written inspired by Bach give the album a different feel and to have them interspersed means that the journey is diverse.
Michael’s “Psalm” has an elegant upright dancing tempo, and here the piano takes the lion’s share of the movement with touches of discord. It leads us into the unknown, a melodic discovery of his soul seen through the piano. The warmth of the sax on the four Duke pieces is an interesting comparison to the more dramatic sound of the Bach inspirations, with the piano on “Where It Springs Into Being” rushed and furtive, as if trying to escape detection while the sax is far more frantic, the pair letting rip and affecting the earlier mood of tranquillity. Equilibrium is regained as Ellington’s “Reflections In D” insinuates, the pair’s interactions particularly pleasing here; and Michael’s willingness to go off piste a little always appreciated, although never at the expense of the exquisite melody. You really feel them revelling in the sumptuousness of it all and when closer “Warm Valley” arrives, it is like a cosy blanket to wrap around the shoulders of the audience before they leave.This album has an exquisite touch and a warmth and generosity that only comes from familiarity and respect. From Bach To Ellington is a lovely collection that does find you hankering after the originals, just to compare, but is also a standalone delight.
-Mr Olivetti-
