Tim Garland (mezzo-soprano/soprano sax); Geoffrey Keezer (piano).
You learn something every day particularly when it comes to saxophones. Until I played this duo version of Chick Corea's La Fiesta I didn't know there was such a beast as a mezzo-soprano saxophone. Pitched in F - a tone above an alto - it offers yet another variation of saxophone sound.
On the above track Garland whizzes around the instrument with his customary dexterity. If he'd been driving a space ship he'd be on a mission to Mars. Keezer hangs on in there providing his own impetus to the gravity defying musical astronaut.
Garland sticks with the instrument for all but two of the nine tracks only reverting to the conventional soprano for Carousel and Keezer's Ghost in the Photograph.
Satie's Gnossienne No. 1 has an ethereal sound that suits the will-o'-the-wisp phrases from the mezzo with Keezer's accompaniment respectful of the composer's intent.
Garland provided To the One Who Flies: a frantic exercise that wouldn't be out of place on the last page of the Advanced Studies for Saxophone. There's an air of freedom about it as both musicians stretch themselves to the limit.
A Prayer at Winter, also by Garland emits the sanctity the title implies with no cardinal sins committed other than providing a strong melodic and harmonic structure. I'll say "Amen" to that!
Mulgrew Miller's Carousel is the first outing for the Bb soprano. It's a pleasant romp conveying the whirl of the fairground attraction.
Out of Towner, by Garland, is another piece that has the duo intertwining like a pair of copulating serpents. Was it inspired by Ralph Towner who so recently passed away?
Every Time we Say Goodbye, an emotional take on Cole Porter's classic standard. Garland's pure toned solo and Keezer's sympathetic comping (and solo) convey instrumentally what Ella conveyed with the words.
Keezer's sole compositional contribution is the enigmatically titled Ghost in the Photograph. A quirky theme that dances merrily along.
The album closes with Garland's folksy The Waves Between. Is the title a remembrance of when he lived on the coast at Whitley Bay I wonder? Whatever, it's yet another example of how well the two work together on an album which Garland announces will NOT be available on Spotify when it is self-released on Feb. 27. Lance
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