Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » John Law / Mark Pringle: This is

190

John Law / Mark Pringle: This is

By

View read count
Traditionally, the art of the piano duo has been linked to classical music, and almost every significant classical composer, from Mozart to Maurice Ravel, has written music for two pianos. In jazz, however, this particular medium is somewhat rare, and although Bill Evans recorded Further Conversations with Myself (PolyGram, 1967), where he overdubbed himself on piano, decidedly pure piano duos in jazz have been scarce, with An Evening with Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea: In Concert (Columbia, 1978) being one of the more well-known highlights of the idiom.

Recently, however, with genres being dissolved and more and more classical pianists turning to jazz and vice versa, there has been a new blossoming of piano duos linked to jazz. Brad Mehldau's and Kevin Hays' Modern Music (Nonesuch, 2011) and Chick Corea's and Stefano Bollani's Orvieto (ECM, 2011) are only two of the most prominent examples of the newfound interest in the art form, but one of the strongest efforts comes from the partnership of British pianist John Law and his former student, Mark Pringle, with their album—simply titled This is—taking an encyclopedic journey through the rhythms and textures of their instruments.

It all begins with a bold reading of the third movement of J.S Bach's "Concerto for 2 Harpsichords in C." Here, the two pianists make each note stand crystal clear, while lines sing in fugal harmony, balancing rhythm, tempo and melody in a perfect manner.

From the virtuosity and polyphonic joy of Bach, the geographical location shifts from Germany to Brazil and the sun-baked joie de vivre of Lyle Mays' "Chorinho," whose dancing rhythms twirl around with breathtaking elegance. In this dance, Law and Pringle never step on each other's toes, but manage to retain both intimacy and space among the unfolding notes.

While a broad scope of musical tradition is embraced on the album, with tunes covering everything from J.S. Bach to Cole Porter, the real highlights of the album are the originals. Among them, the title tunes—Pringle's "This"; and Law's "Is"—are especially fascinating, both combining the vocabularies of jazz and classical in a singular and seamless way, coalescing improvisational surprise and a deep elegiac musicality that pays attention to every detail of their instruments' sound.

This is ends up being quite an apt description; this music could only be played by John Law and Mark Pringle.

Track Listing

J.S. Bach Concerto for 2 Harpsichords in C 3rd Movement; Chorinho; This; Fun at Five; Fields; Lakes; Betty Blue; Triadic Ballet; Alone; I Love You; Is.

Personnel

John Law: piano, glockenspiel (12); Mark Pringle: piano, glockenspiel (12).

Album information

Title: This is | Year Released: 2011 | Record Label: 33 Jazz

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.