Dazzling yet intimate, this set of tracks is the work of two brilliant and internationally renowned musicians who are also close friends, and their friendship pours from the music with passion, intensity, humour and inspiring energy. The central focus here is ‘collaboration’ – the musical collaboration of Barley and Joseph and the traditions from which they have individually evolved, and their combined collaboration with other composers in a series of imaginative arrangements.
Record of the Month
“ … the recording beguiles and overwhelms alternately - sometimes simultaneously”
Brian Wilson - MusicWeb-International.com -
"The young virtuoso of the cello has been straddling styles and fields of activity for a while, but this is probably his most jazz oriented venture yet. Barley’s execution and quality of invention are exceptional and, even though there’s occasional use of extended techniques (as opposed to “effects”), most excitement is achieved via a conventional approach, much of it with the bow rather than pizzicato. Joseph, heard at album length for the first time in too long, is obviously expert and equally successful at taking the role of sensitive accompanist a lot of the time. Some tracks are classified as improvisations but the majority are identifiable pieces, often with highly singable melodies. Even when auditioning initially without benefit of a set-list, the Ravel ‘Pièce en Forme de Habañera’ stuck out as being played more “straight” than the rest, but its presence here underlines the stylistic continuity with Jobim, McLaughlin and even Jaco Pastorius’ ‘Used To Be A Cha Cha’." Brian Priestley - Jazzwise Magazine - October 2009
