Lisa Ullén / Sten Sandell

Keith Tippett & Matthew Bourne

Aeolian

Discus 120 CD

Challenging or comforting, the piano duo can be as rewarding as the series of duo discs and tours by Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea in the 1970s proved; or as mismatched as Cecil Taylor and Mary Lou Williams’ recorded collaboration of 1977. Keyboard discrepancy is avoided and comfort replaced by experimentation on these discs however. Distinctively both sets involve veterans working with younger pianists. The Swedish Double Music for instance features Sten Sandell, who has been recording since 1985 with the likes of Raymond Strid, with developing keyboardist Lisa Ullén, whose 21st Century projects are with different sized ensembles. A two-CD set from the UK, Aeolian captures the final public statement and a studio date by Keith Tippett (1947-2020) with younger colleague Matthew Bourne. Experienced in this configuration, Tippett had already recorded piano duets with Howard Riley and Stan Tracey. Meanwhile keyboardist Bourne’s work was in bands with Paul Dunmall and Laurent Dehors among many others.

Splayed and scattered perpetual motion characterize Tippett and Bourne’s studio disc with a joyous mix of concentrated key thrashing, percussive chromaticism and, as importantly, kinetic key stretches, internal string plucking and occasionally obtuse formalism. The third motif is most appropriately demonstrated on “Buran” as the two sway through studied expression and note examination. Dividing the exposition with one tinkling textures at the keyboard’s highest pitches and the other sourcing methodical string strums, the congruence point is a variant of descriptive faux-baroque.

As frequently as a dancing interface is emphasized, the duet can also turn percussive, as it does on “Sirocco”. Here the shuffling pops and keyboard rebounds reflect not dust-laden Mediterranean desert winds, but another current: a busier version of bare-bones Thelonious Monk-like shuffles, complete with rolling bass line. Conclusion on the final tracks captures a fluctuation between those two approaches. “Bora” is dedicated to clash and clatter, with textures emanating as much from the instruments’ inner capotes, screws and soundboard suturing as the low pitches of surround sound chording from the keyboards themselves. Meantime the final and penultimate tracks are connected to decoration and coloration, with romantic-style ballad inferences sharing space with four-handed crisscross patterning descriptions.

Three months later during a single concert improvisation the two move from a slow and stately introduction to inflated pitches and motions. Although one keyboardist’s exposition is almost nursery-rhyme-like simple, the other’s linear extension brings out Blues inferences. By mid-point more parts of the piano are in play so that metronomic keyboard emphasis is decorated by internal string resonations. Together this sets up a drone that vibrates through the remainder of the track. A mid-point challenge between the freedom to swing and the stolid power of woody shakes is finally resolved in the final sequence. Here melody supersedes vibrations, with the slowing section also referring to the improvisation’s processional beginnings.

Whereas Aeolian seems to depend on Tippett and Bourne shoving keyboard ideas and emphasis back-and-forth, Double Music is more of a dual effort, with Ullén and Sandell evolving concepts in sync. The program is bookended with two variations on the title track during which the pianists produce a percussive and allegrissimo clanking coloration that would have made boogie-woogie specialists Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons proud. At the same time while the molded ruffs and ricochets are never less than moving, isolated phrases in either bright or murky pitches confirm each pianist’s singular identity.

With refracting and relaxed tune variations assuring that the session’s linear affiliation is maintained, no matter how many metallic or staccato interludes are advanced, inspiration is expressed in various forms. “Twenty Fingers” for example, is a way to express how a narrative can be defined. Centred around speedier and speedier variations, one pianist concentrates on sprinkling a collection of high-pitched notes from the keyboard, while the other produces heavier pressure through soundboard rumbles and wood smacks. This results in a climax that cannily melds light and dark timbres from each. On the other hand the following “Onyx I” and “Onyx II” produce the closest thing to a two-part romantic melody on the disc. With sibilant and reflective chording from one pianist and equivalent decorative tinkling from the other, the tracks are set up as the feed one another patterns and pass the exposition from one keyboard to another. Concentrating so that more tones on and between the keys enter the narrative, Ullén and Sandell arrive at a concordance of lower-pitched rumbles that maintain the compositional shape by replacing one note of the narrative with another from the other partner as soon as the first piano sound dies away.

The discs offer sterling examples of how close cooperation can preserve notable essays in dual piano literature. Yet a preference for unvarnished piano textures above all ithers is needed for true appreciation.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: Aeolian: CD1: 1. Etesians 2. Bise 3. Buran 4. Mistral 5. Brickfielder 6. Sirocco 7. Bora 8. Samoon 9. Something I Made Up CD2: 1. Sympatico / Trade Winds

Personnel: Aeolian: Keith Tippett and Matthew Bourne (pianos)

Track Listing: Double: 1. Double Music I 2. Area With Twenty Fingers 3. Twenty Fingers 4. Crossing 5. All Or Nothing 6. Onyx I 7. Onyx II Double Music II

Personnel: Double: Lisa Ullén and Sten Sandell (pianos)