| Marty Ehrlich and Myra Melford - SPARK! |
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The first time Ehrlich (who plays alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet and flutes) caught Melford in concert, she was performing in a duo with flautist Marion Brandas, and playing the strings inside her piano with mallets. Not a bad first impression. Ehrlich would join Melford's quintet (also featuring trumpeter Dave Douglas) in 1994 and, as the fates would have it, the two began playing in a duo themselves later that decade. Yet Can Spring, their first recording as paired performers, appeared in 2001, on Arabesque Records. But once is never enough, and the duo returned to the studio for 2007's SPARK!, a spare and beautiful set of original compositions from both parties, plus tunes by pianist/vocalist Robin Holcomb and the late pianist Andrew Hill (he passed only months before this record was released), with whom Ehrlich had worked with as a sideman. Things kick off, and close, with alternate versions of Ehrlich's "Hymn," a triumphant piece from the saxophonist's 2003 release, Line on Love. "For Leroy," also penned by Ehrlich, is for violinist Leroy Jenkins, another jazz great who has left us in the past year. Hill's "Images of Time" becomes a vehicle for Ehrlich's powerful alto sax ruminations. - Brad Farberman
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