(1985) Mal Waldron/Yosuke Yamashita - Piano Duo Live at Pit Inn ****

 

With: Mal Waldron (piano), Yosuke Yamashita (piano)
Record date: September 17, 1985

Piano duo’s could be highly successful and interesting encounters, but for some reason they do never really attract me at first. But when I hear what’s going on mostly that attitude changes. Because a piano is such a versatile instrument: it’s both harmonic as percussive. And because of that you do not really miss a rhythm section and it’s highly suitable for a solo or duo recording. In September 1985 Mal encountered one of Japan’s best and probably most well known pianists: Yosuke Yamashita. A very gifted piano player, influenced by classical music and free jazz but also very much by Mal. In fact he has recorded a tribute album to Mal only 2 years before the recording of this concert. This concert was recorded in a small Tokyo jazz club called Pit Inn.

The performance contains lengthy duo improvisations: 2 that were actually improvised on the spot and the third based on ‘My Old Flame’. There is plenty of space for both pianists to fully stretch out and they improvise off and on sometimes separately and sometimes together. When one improvises the other provides heavy background playing. When they improvise together they react on what the other is doing and vice versa. Sometimes imitating each other or playing each note in the other direction. It sounds like a competition sometimes but not like anyone really has to win. It’s more about pushing the other further and further. They also seem to really feel what the other is about to play. It’s really a fascinating hearing. Then there’s the overall sound: it’s jazzy, bluesy, experimental, free, structured all in one.

You could definitely hear Mal’s influence on Yamashita’s playing. Yamashita hits the piano probably even harder but most of all: he really is an original player and not some copycat. He manages to play excellent solo’s using all kinds of phrases, sometimes from well known songs. And he also manages to push Mal into creative territory with his energetic background playing. Mal has played piano duo’s before and after but Yamashita is probably the best ‘opponent’.

This was never released on vinyl so cd is your only option. I’ve got the 1986 original which sounds excellent and is a bit cheaper to buy than the 1998 reissue on Village Records. Recommended stuff for piano jazz lovers and of course Yamashita fan’s. A highly successful experiment which should be listened to with headphones on so you can hear even better what Mal and Yosuke are doing separately.