Ron Carter & Yotam Silberstein: Duets
The guitar-bass duo format entered the jazz mainstream through Jim Hall and Ron Carter’s Alone Together, a landmark recording built on musical dialogue rather than the traditional soloist-accompanist relationship. Recorded on what would have been Hall’s 94th birthday, Duets consciously revisits that aesthetic.
The album opens with Nova Ilusão, a song that predates the bossa-nova era, Silberstein drawing on his longstanding affinity for Brazilian music. That’s reflected not only in his choice of repertoire but also in his diatonic improvisational language and lyrical melodic inventiveness. Beneath the guitar, Carter’s bass provides a supple melodic counterweight, while the warmth of Silberstein’s nylon-string acoustic guitar lends the performance an intimate character.
Blues For Brother Malone, Silberstein’s tribute to the late Russell Malone, is rooted in a 12-bar minor blues form, yet its sophisticated reharmonisations and relaxed soul-jazz swagger carry a clear genetic trace of Stanley Turrentine’s Sugar. The original waltz Rain Again showcases the remarkable rhythmic cohesion between the two protagonists while serving as a reminder of why Ron Carter, with more than 2,000 recording credits, remains one of the most sought-after sidemen in jazz history.
Vernon Duke’s What Is There to Say places the spotlight on Carter’s solo, built on a call-and-response principle. Its melodic logic and conversational flow could serve as a lesson not only for bassists but for horn players as well. Taken at an unusual medium-up tempo, They Say It’s Wonderful features an elegant statement of the theme before Silberstein launches into a solo rich in quotations and bebop vocabulary, supported throughout by Carter’s unerringly supportive walking bass.
On Mil Dew, Silberstein’s legato articulation often evokes the phrasing of a horn player, perhaps echoing Johnny Griffin’s original conception. Moving through the familiar I Got Rhythm changes, he shapes his improvisation with blues-inflected lines and deft reharmonisations.
At 88, Carter remains in remarkable form, offering further proof of his enduring stature among jazz’s great bassists, while Silberstein emerges as a tradition-minded guitarist whose artistic trajectory remains well worth following. His use of different guitars, from nylon-string and steel-string acoustics to electric jazz guitar, provides a welcome variety of timbres, to which Carter responds with characteristic sensitivity. The result is a guitar-bass duo album that never lapses into monotony, making Duets an engaging listen from start to finish.
Discography
Nova Ilusão; Love Letters; Blues For Brother Malone; Rain Again; The Lamp Is Low; What Is There to Say; They Say It’s Wonderful; Mil Dew (34.02)
Silberstein (g); Carter (b). Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 4 December 2025.
Jojo Records JJR-012
Kevin Fort, Andy Brown: Chiaroscuro
The piano-guitar duo remains one of jazz’s most intimate settings, though also one of its most demanding. Ever since Bill Evans and Jim Hall established the benchmark with Undercurrent and Intermodulation, musicians have been drawn to the format’s combination of freedom, transparency and conversational spontaneity. On Chiaroscuro, Kevin Fort and Andy Brown embrace this tradition while bringing a distinctly contemporary sensibility to the music.
The success of such a recording depends less on individual virtuosity than on the ability of the musicians to listen and respond. Fort and Brown do this exceptionally well. Their interaction is patient and unforced, allowing ideas to develop naturally without sacrificing momentum. Brown’s warm tone and understated swing complement Fort’s harmonic imagination and melodic fluency, producing performances that feel both relaxed and purposeful.
The quartet of standards provides some of the album’s most memorable moments. In How Deep Is the Ocean, the theme is withheld until after an extended contrapuntal dialogue, creating a sense of anticipation that rewards careful listening. Parker’s Yardbird Suite receives an inventive treatment that balances respect for the original melody with fresh improvisational ideas. Particularly impressive is Night And Day, where both players generate a continuous flow of melodic material without ever losing sight of the tune’s underlying structure.
Fort’s original compositions reveal another side of his musicianship. Rather than drawing exclusively on bop vocabulary, they explore a broader harmonic landscape. Dark Flower unfolds through a series of subtle harmonic shifts that keep the listener slightly off balance, while Leroy places blues-inflected ideas within the familiar framework of a 32-bar AABA form. These pieces demonstrate not only compositional craft but also a clear personal voice.
Chiaroscuro succeeds both as an acknowledgement of a distinguished jazz tradition and as a statement of artistic individuality. Fort and Brown avoid mere imitation, drawing inspiration from the Evans-Hall model while creating music that feels thoughtful, engaging and very much their own.
Discography
How Deep Is The Ocean; Morning Light; For Heaven’s Sake; Leroy; Yardbird Suite; Dark Flower; Chiaroscuro; Night And Day (47.47)
Kevin Fort (p); Andy Brown (g). Transient Sound, Chicago, IL, 13 January 2026.
JeruJazz Records JJR-24-CD
