Deuce

Three thousand miles across the US, saxophonist and flutist Hans Teuber and bassist Jeff Johnson have been partners for as long Turner and Iverson have collaborated in New York. Teuber has been on all of Johnson's albums for their hometown Seattle label, Origin. This time, though, there's a difference; it's just the two of them. Their piece "Let's Pretend," composed—that is, improvised—in performance demonstrates how a "rhythm" instrument and a "melody" instrument can each be both, and how if their players think alike, the melding of minds makes music that washes over the listener. Those who may think of free jazz as space music or music of aggression will hear master players each committed to what the other conceives and helping him achieve it. Not to suggest that this Teuber-Johnson venture lacks substance. Hearing them in the album's three standard songs will give the close listener luxuriant helpings of familiar harmonies thoroughly explored in "What's New?" "How Deep Is The Ocean" and "You've Changed, and in Jimmy Reed's 1961 pop blues hit "Bright Lights, Big City." Teuber's and Johnson's "Hopi Dream" features the deep tones of Teuber's alto flute and a Johnson solo that somehow evokes the mystery of those people of the Southwest just by the mention of their name in the title. The album is a lovely experience. I should have called it to your attention sooner.