Marcos Pin and Yago Vazquez: Marcos Pin: Duology

Duology: Session 1 features the duet playing of guitarist Marcos Pin and pianist Yago Vazquez. The album is a tour through some of the most popular jazz standards. The duo format and individual talents of Pin and Vazquez bring a life and energy to the tunes, revealing the depth and potential in even the most frequently heard standards.

The album consists of Charlie Parker's "Donna Lee" and "Dewey Square," Thelonious Monk's "Blue Monk," Jerome Kern's ever-present "All the Things You Are," and Gene De Paul's "You Don't Know What Love Is." Though the album is EP length, the quality and depth of Pin and Vazquez's interpretations make for a complete and satisfying listening experience.

Pin and Vazquez embrace the challenges of the duo format and excel with energetic, exciting and fresh interpretations of the standards. Pin effortlessly navigates the fretboard, spinning memorable melodies as he converses with Vazquez's piano accompaniment. "Donna Lee" demonstrates the seamless transitions between roles, as the players alternate bass and percussion duties between their instruments. Despite being a duo, they create the effect of a quartet, with a single cohesive vision.

"All the Things You Are" is treated with a funky feel in the sparse piano arrangement that brings a new dimension to the tune. The contrapuntal texture between piano and guitar provides a sense of constant motion. These textures give way to a dense chordal climax before the final iteration of the head. What Pin and Vazquez achieve is an aurally captivating arrangement that uses imaginative possibilities of their instruments.

Pin and Vazquez deliver a unified vision of straight-ahead jazz through all five selections. Their artistry is enhanced by the exposure they face as a duo. They excel as individuals, but their combined voices result in a special expression of the endless interactive possibilities of the jazz genre.