| We had to wait nine years to have a new recording featuring the collaboration of saxophonist Jason Robinson and pianist Anthony Davis. After two critically acclaimed tracks on Robinson’s 2001 release "Tandem" (Accretions), this new CD is a manifestation of the two musicians’ love for the music of Duke Ellington, for the blues format and, more fundamentally, for the blues song in the way the great composer understood it in "Mood Indigo", "Transbluesency" and "Azure", among other pieces. Of course, what they do with both references isn't literal, but a recreation made in the context of the present creative jazz, a field in which they're indisputable masters. As Robinson himself writes on his liner notes, "if Ellington were to collaborate with science fiction author Samuel R. Delany, one might encounter a cerulean landscape”. Jason Robinson is a confessed experimentalist, either using electronics and/or trying alternative combinations between improvisation and composition. Co-leading the band Cosmologic, playing with the likes of George Lewis, Eugene Chadbourne, Mark Dresser and Gerry Hemingway, or cruising the fields of reggae and rap, he's one of the most intriguing musicians around. A legend of free jazz, Davis became a well respected opera author, with works like "X – The Life and Times of Malcolm X" and "Amistad", he is also widely known for his chamber, choral and symphonic creations. During this time his wonderful piano playing – which for some time was rivaled only by Muhal Richard Abrams – became a secondary focus. "Cerulean Landscape" is his festive comeback as an instrumentalist. This is great and beautifully carved music. |