Artist: Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner
Album: Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner
Genre: Bop, Contemporary Jazz, Mainstream Jazz
Label: North Sea Jazz/Universal/EmArcy
Released: 2001
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
- Dolphin Dance (Hancock) - 7:08
- The Dolphin (Eca) - 7:00
- Sinatra Medley: All the Way (Cahn-Van Heusen)/My Way (Revaux-Francois) - 5:58
- Tender Is the Night (Fain-Webster) - 3:35
- Legrand Medley: You Must Believe in Spring/Windmills of Your Mind/I Will Wait for You (Legrand) - 8:35
- Smile (Chaplin) - 4:38
- Inspiration (Werner) - 4:02
- Sicilienne (J.S. Bach) - 4:33
- Windows (Corea) - 3:37
- Bill Evans Medley: Time Remembered/Very Early (Evans) - 7:11
- Autumn Leaves (Kosma) - 6:05
- Disney Medley: When You Wish Upon a Star (Harline)/Someday My Prince Will Come (Churchill-Morey) - 5:40
- What a Wonderful World (Thiele-Weiss) - 3:33
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- Personnel:
- Toots Thielemans - harmonica
- Kenny Werner - piano, keyboards
The pairing of Toots Thielemans and Kenny Werner for several live duo concerts in mid-June of 2001 (although there is no audible audience response) is a dream come true for fans of ballads. Whether Werner sticks exclusively to piano or adds the lush strings from his synthesizer as well, he provides the perfect complement to the always lyrical harmonica of the veteran Thielemans. Although Thielemans was 79 at the time of this recording, he has lost none of the daredevil spirit he has demonstrated in the past on up-tempo romps such as those through an exciting "Autumn Leaves" or capturing the emotion within a gem such as Charlie Chaplin's bittersweet "Smile." The songs include beautiful interpretations of classic jazz compositions by Herbie Hancock ("Dolphin Dance"), Chick Corea ("Windows"), and Bill Evans (a medley of the moody "Time Remembered" and the upbeat "Very Early"). Medley salutes to Frank Sinatra, Michel Legrand, and music from Disney movies (a medley of "When You Wish Upon a Star" and "Someday My Prince Will Come") also earn high marks. Too many releases of this nature turn to mush because of repeated overdubs and splicing in of additional keyboard parts; the live nature of the recordings and the inspiration provided by the various audiences (even if listeners never hear them clap, cough, sneeze, or talk) clearly brings out the best in both Thielemans and Werner's playing. This warrants a follow-up date.
Review by Ken Dryden