A while back I posted some
video clips from a PBS special that I saw and recorded back in the 1980’s. At least, I think they are clips from that
video. Anyway, I watched and recorded a
duet with Bill Mays on piano and Red Mitchell on bass. I seem to recall that it was the first time I
was able to record audio from television onto my cassette deck. I listened to that recording over and over. It was one of those formative moments in my
life as a jazz listener. The simple
duet, with Mitchell’s gorgeous thump and Mays’ bright keys, presented the basic
jazz idea to me in a way that I couldn’t miss it.
Around that same time I noticed
an album by Mays and Mitchell in a record store, but just couldn’t afford
it. I have looked for it ever since and
today I found it on eMusic. It’s Two of a Mind, and it brings the hair up
on the back of my neck. It is very well
recorded. Mitchel could make a bass talk
the talk while he walks the walk. I love
bass sound and Mitchel can make one note extend like layered biscuit while
another vibrates like a tightrope under the feet of someone desperately trying
to reach the post.
Mays combines a pensive mood reminiscent
of Bill Evans with a staccato brightness that is all his own. He surrounds the drama of the bass with the
lights, tables, and cocktails. Then they
get to dialogue. The exchange is exquisite
and compelling.
This is a superb duet. You can get it for less than three flippin’
dollars from eMusic. I also bought a
Mays Trio recording, Summer Sketches. I’ll probably be playing something from that
soon. Meanwhile, from Two of a Mind I am
playing ‘Well You Needn’t,’ and ‘All Blues’.
