Search - Steve Swallow, Steve Kuhn :: Two By 2

Excellent

E. C Goodstein | Northern CA United States | 12/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As the notes regarding this album and liner notes say, these two veterans have been friends and

sympatico colleagues for a long time. And it's great to hear a duo album by them. The comfort level and communication is terrific, the pieces are varied. Swallow brings out the fun side of Kuhn, and yet the longing

and rhapsodic excellence is there too. And Swallow shows why he's one of the most important and brilliant

electric bass players, taking what could be a very limited instrument and imbuing it with grace, poignancy

and high style. Both men have many fine albums-- & their collaborations with Sheila Jordan are high points; this one though shouldn't be overlooked for its own fine virtues."

Two outstanding musicians

Hugh Oliver | Provo, UT | 06/07/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone familiar with the work of Kuhn and Swallow knows 'Two By 2' is going to be an excellent CD. Still, I have reservations which are solely based on what I've already heard from these musicians' other recordings.

The music here has many songs already recorded by Kuhn, and therein may lie a so-called 'trap', that being that if you don't compare any of these songs with their other versions, they're fine. But if you do compare, then some of these fall short. This is especially true with 'Deep Tango', which has long been a favorite of mine and is the main reason I bought this recording.



The 'Deep Tango' of this recording is more careful, more reflective than the one from Kuhn's 1980 release 'Playground', which sadly is not out on CD. The 'Playground' session has a 'Deep Tango' more characterized by intensity throughout and a blazing middle section improvisation by Kuhn that is even better than the song itself. Here, everything is more dignified and polite.



Poem #15 has a spoken section which I don't think is necessary. Why not let the music do the communication is my opinion.



Swallow's pieces are well-performed but the performances sound awfully busy. Some musical punctuation would have been nice.



I think the version of 'Lullaby' here is even more effective than the one on 'Promises Kept' (a GREAT album). It's spare and heartfelt.



Swallow's 'Ladies in Mercedes' is delightful. It's busy,too, but it's always headed somewhere. Norma Winstone did an excellent vocal rendition of this but it works just as well in its original instrumental version. Kuhn and Swallow's performance of it is just great.



I will admit I may not be right in taking the work of great artists like these and comparing it to their other work. There's so much garbage that tries to pass itself off as music that it might also be valid to wonder why 'Two By 2' should be criticized at all. I think these performances have a lot more right than wrong, but do listen to other versions of these songs, especially the 1980 'Deep Tango' if you can find it on record or tape.



1-26-09 update: "Playground" is now available on a 3 CD set just issued by ECM."