Mikey likes it, just call me Mikey's twin brother; sooner or later I like just about everything I hear. Didn't like it at all the first time through, and now that I've spent quite a lot of time with this recording I do like it. A lot.
It's a mood. Together, the contralto and the pianist are expressing a mood here that is deep, dark, and without much rhythm; it's for the listener who wishes to sit and think for a while.
A Berklee graduate, Betty Carter intern, and the 1993 Thelonious Monk Piano Competition winner, Terrasson combines his feathery keyboard touch with power and passion; he's a rising star with a lot to say. Wilson, the forty-one year old crossover artist who started her successful career with Steve Coleman's M-Base collective, has spent twice as many years as Terrasson in the public's limelight and has become quite popular for her expressive contralto voice.
Of the eleven tracks, one is Terrasson alone, one features the pianist and singer alone as a duo, and another seven allow the two to work with bass and percussion. For the most part, Mino Cinelu is using hand percussion instruments instead of a drum set. The acoustic bass is used throughout; bassist Kenny Davis sits in on one number; the remaining tracks are with Lonnie Plaxico.
Michel LeGrand's "Little Boy Lost," the one performed as a vocal/piano duo, amplifies the type of teamwork they employ on the rest of the session. Since the rhythm remains rubato throughout the tune, expression comes to the fore, and Wilson's slow carefully-produced utterances show an unmistakable similarity to Sarah Vaughan's ballad work.
The highlight of the session is Johnny Mercer's "I Remember You," which starts out with Cinelu playing brushes. Terrasson then performs in his trademark style for half the track before Wilson joins him with gentle scatting and lyrics. She's in her upper and middle vocal registers, and this tune is a clear example of the two headliners doing what they do best. Surprisingly, Plaxico is out of tune on the outro; one has to wonder.
A second highlight of the session is the Lerner/Lowe classic "If Ever I Would Leave You," done without a tempo, and it's quite romantic. On first listen, it almost seems like a blasphemy that these standards are performed so very different from the originals, but you've got to hand it to both Wilson and Terrasson for doing something different while keeping the quality level so high. Terrasson provides an organ accompaniment on "Tennessee Waltz" by using the electric piano. He performs Herbie Hancock's "Chan's Song" on both acoustic and electric piano, and his own composition "Chicago 1987" rounds out the set, performed as a solo piano blues.
If for no other reason, you'd want to buy this one for the lovely cover portraits by photographer William Claxton.