Hot tension and competition is indeed suggested on Reciprocal Uncles. The competition is recreational, as it were, and pianist Gianni Lenoci and saxist Gianni Mimmo never come to blows. Rather, they are as sporting as two fencing partners. What it lacks for in grand, communal emotion it makes up for in percussive and lyrical invention. In the earlier numbers the tensions are often resolved by one player allowing the other to dominate or, sometimes, in standoffs, where one will drop out entirely as the other solos. The dynamics throughout are fun and swinging.
It is the later numbers that offer resolutions – and revolutions – turning the tensions into forays of breathtaking complexity. “Sparse Lyrics” begins with a plaintive but swinging soprano over a lean, abstracted piano. The two come together then drift apart, repeatedly. As they compete for the lead, one circles the other as in an electron orbit. Then, the piano starts pumping out separate melodies in both bass and treble, dividing the soprano’s attention, now following one and then the other. In “News from the Distance” beginning with hard percussion from both instruments, the piano sometimes thwarts and sometimes follows the soprano. Ultimately it takes the lead and runs with it to an entirely other place, mostly inthebass-butsofar,asina360turn,itstartsto follow again.
All About Jazz New York talks about The Talking Bass
Gordon Marshall