One of the moments I treasure from my years of listening to jazz was hearing the legendary pairing of Jay Johnson and Kai Winding at Newcastle City Hall.
That evening (Sept. 12, 1958) the trombone duo, better known as Jay & Kai, appeared alongside, amongst others, Lee Konitz and Zoot Sims as part of a JATP style package touring the UK under the heading of Jazz From Carnegie Hall. I was sitting at the side of the stage - the cheapest seats in the house - which were, paradoxically, the best seats in the house! It was magic being so close to these great musicians - Kenny Clarke, Oscar Pettiford and Phineas Newborn Jr. were also on the bill.
Now, over 60 years later, we have another trombone duo carrying the baton and the slides are in good hands. Levy and Goidel, both graduates of the Manhattan School of Music, have CVs that include time spent individually with various bands ranging from Vince Giordano to Jaki Byard to name but two.The compositions are split between the sliders: Levy 5, Goidel 3 and pianist Yamazaki 1. Yamazaki, incidentally, is absolutely brilliant both solowise and as part of the excellent rhythm section.
Overall it is a treat, not just for trombonists, although they'll be first in the queue, but for any one who likes jazz to swing the way it did back in the late 1950s. Those moments that we once thought were gone forever but are now constantly resurfacing in all the major jazz cities.
Lance
Check it out on Bandcamp.
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