Apparently Chick Corea and Hiromi push each other's creative buttons. Corea is always reliable, but on this recording he sounds like he's 25 again. And Hiromi rose to the challenge of playing with such a legend. What's surprising is how seamless their playing is. Individually they have very distinctive approaches to the piano, but here they often sound like one person with four hands.
Not every cut is equally bracing. There are a few that sound more like the players are coasting through old standards, but many of the pieces here are surprisingly bold, thorny, and out on the edge (which is just the way I like it). At times they sound like Cecil Taylor, which is quite welcome, but very surprising. "Spain" hasn't sounded this fresh in decades. What's perhaps most notable about the performance is the communication and interplay between Corea and Hiromi. They're playing in hair-trigger mode all the time, following each other's lead so instantaneously that at times it seems as though they're playing written-out parts in unison (though this happens in such unlikely places that you know it is in fact improvised). And that kind of super-alert attitude gives all the playing a tremendous immediacy and vitality. All in all a very rewarding CD.
Tracklist:
CD1:
01. Very Early
02. How Insensitive
03. Deja Vu04. Fool on the Hill
05. Humpty Dumpty
06. Bolivar Blues
CD2:
01. Windows
02. Old Castle, by the river, in the middle of a forest
03. Summertime
04. Place To Be
05. Do Mo (Children's Song #12)
06. Concierto de Aranjuez / Spain
Duet: Chick & Hiromi
Fileserve: Part 1 - Part 2 / Uploading: Part 1 - Part 2 @ 320K