Kenny Barron & Regina Carter

Kenny Barron & Regina Carter

Freefall (Verve)

Pairing Philly pianist Kenny Barron and Motown violinist Regina Carter could be seen as merely a commercial vehicle for Verve, which has released five Barron and two Carter albums. Instead, it's a pairing of veteran and developing talent, two gifted NYC-based friends sculpting sound with the tape rolling. Barron is a prominent jazz veteran, having played with Yusef Lateef, Dizzy Gillespie, Ron Carter, and Freddie Hubbard. Carter is one of the new jazz artists who both know and respect the jazz canon, while simultaneously contributing to it. Freefall's 10 tunes are either reinterpretations, such as Monk's "Misterioso" and Romberg & Hammerstein's "Softly as a Morning Sunrise," or original compositions like Carter's "Shades of Gray" and Barron's "A Flower." While their playing is more rewardingly intimate than Hot Club hot, Barron and Carter reach the intense instrumental interplay of the great jazz duos. With a custom bow, and soul to spare, Carter dances over the strings with a consummate jazz joie de vivre. Barron is a one-man band unto himself, serving up rhythmic and melodic brushstrokes that place him in the genre's crème de la crème. "What If," the title track, and "Shades of Gray," in particular, gravitate toward the cubist chamber side of jazz's continuum. The rest is pure melodic goodness, including Johnny Hodges' "Squatty Roo." Fans of Barron or Carter's solo music will get into this pairing, but it's probably more accurate to say that if you're a jazz fan, you'll fall for Freefall.