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Is There Really Only One Guitar And Drums Duo Album in Jazz History?

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By Ian Patterson
January 12, 2024
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A veritable mountain of duo albums color jazz history. Vocal and piano duos abound. Think Ella Fitzgerald and Ellis Larkins, Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, or Carmen McRae and George Shearing for starters.

Guitar and piano duos? Plenty of those too. Jim Hall and Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass spring to mind.

Vocals and guitar? Check. Vibraphone and piano? Check. Name a duo combo—trombone and saxophone, piano and harp, trombone and saxophone, drums and piano, drums and saxophone, two pianos, two guitars—and it has been done. Just about every conceivable combination of instruments in jazz has teamed up at some point to record as a duo.

With one notable exception. Guitar and drums.

Could it be that in the century-plus of jazz history there was not one single album of guitar and drums in purely duo harness until 2023, when Irish drummer David Lyttle and English guitarist Phil Robson released the standards-inspired IN2 (Lyte Records)?

Why is the guitar 'n' drums combo so rare in recorded jazz history? Is there a single other example out there? Maybe you can put the record straight. If you know of any other drum-and-guitar jazz duo albums, please let us know.

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