Intakt CD 152

Since 1995, whenever Aki Takase has not been making solo recordings, she has always sought the company of Rudi Mahal: The depth of their knowledge of jazz history and their craft-oriented approach are self-evident – if actually rather secondary to their remarkable, dazzlingly entertaining connections between a tempered drive toward freedom and a quite specific wit that shows how to take life both as seriously and as lightly as possible. Their take on this striking collection of evergreens moves through airy amusement, the serious rapport of a sensitive give and take, intellectual juggling, and bizarre dance theater as they wander between aesthetic peaks. – The CD is a stroll through many styles, from stride piano in "You Took Advantage of Me" to free-jazz impressions in "You and the Night and the Music" or the surprisingly pensive paraphrase of "It's Only a Paper Moon." This is vital chamber music, infinitely rich and imaginative, featuring the complex and miraculous sound of the best bass clarinetist in the world.

REVIEW
There are CDs that immediately command your attention, and this is one of them, a wonderful trip through ancient tunes by the duo of Aki Takase on piano and Rudi Mahall on bass clarinet. The two have ventured into this territory before in quintet format on Takase’s St Louis Blues (Enja; 2001) with Fred Frith, Nils Wogram, and Paul Lovens from 2002, and on Plays Fats Waller (Enja; 2003), with Eugene Chadbourne assuming the guitar chair. As a duo, they’ve previously recorded jazz repertoire – Duet for Eric Dolphy (Enja; 1997)—as well as the improvisatory The Dessert (Leo; 2002). Some of the material falls into the category of old pop songs—like “Tea for Two” and “Moonglow”—perhaps too melodically impoverished to be called standards. Other staples include the Ellington songs “Mood Indigo” and “I’m Beginning to See the Light,” and there are bop tunes, too: Bud Powell’s “Cleopatra’s Dream” and Tadd Dameron’s “Good Bait.” The approach varies from tune to tune, ranging from a utopian sweetness that suggests period correctness to a rambunctiousness that touches on free jazz, as in “I’ll Remember April” or “You and the Night and the Music.” Takase is a master of the Monkian wobble, and it’s often brought to a summit here, as in the wonderful “Two Sleepy People.” Mahall makes the occasional obeisance in the direction of Dolphy, but as often as not he sounds like Pee Wee Russell, down an octave, playing next to a supremely impassive (if secretly bemused) Harry Carney. Mahall get a wonderful croaking sound throughout “Good Bait.” Whether it’s a certain bittersweetness that touches “Mood Indigo” or the good humor of “You Took Advantage of Me,” there’s an emotional openness here that seems to be channelled directly from the material.
Stuart Broomer, pointofdeparture, USA, April 2009