This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares five great bass-and-piano duo albums he’s enjoyed, along with a few favorite tracks from each.
Here are five bass-and-piano duo albums I’ve enjoyed listening to, along with some thoughts on a few favorite tracks from each. (Note: these impressions date back to around 2017 — purely my own personal take.)
Contents
5 Great Bass-and-Piano Duo Albums
Ballads & Blues
Recorded 1978 — Tommy Flanagan (piano), George Mraz (bass)
This album introduced me to “They Say It’s Spring,” and I fell for it instantly — such a beautiful melody. It shifts partway through into a medium 4-beat feel, and the legendary George Mraz’s rock-steady time and pitch on that 4-beat groove is something to marvel at.
Come Sunday
Recorded 2010 — Hank Jones (piano), Charlie Haden (bass)
The title track, “Come Sunday,” is one I’ve performed live a number of times myself. It’s a quiet, understated tune, but there’s a bluesy quality running underneath it that fits the somewhat fleeting, poignant impression I have of Charlie Haden’s playing.
Intuition
Recorded 1975 — Bill Evans (piano), Eddie Gomez (bass)
From the beauty of “Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo” (the theme from the film “Lili”) to Eddie Gomez’s passionate solo right from the top of the notoriously tricky standard “Falling Grace,” this album covers a lot of different moods. I love everything Bill Evans recorded, but this one’s a particular favorite of mine.
Conversations With Christian
Released 2011 — Christian McBride (bass)
Not every track on this one is a piano duo, but it’s a favorite of mine among his duo recordings. Track 1, “Afrika,” featuring Angelique Kidjo, is a duo of just bass and vocals. Christian McBride’s time feel is honestly something else.
DUO 2
Released 2011 — Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass), Kenny Drew (piano)
Track 8, “A Child Is Born,” is a favorite of mine — the legendary NHØP takes the melody on bass. Hearing him play a graceful, gentle 3/4 ballad like this, after all those dazzling, lightning-fast solos he’s known for, makes me wonder what his expression must have looked like in the studio.
The Bass-and-Piano Duo: No Drums in Sight
With just bass and piano sounding, both instruments have to mesh well together while still creating moments that stand out. Stick to just roots and a steady 4-beat feel, and it gets monotonous fast — but move around too much, and it stops being a real ensemble. And yet, in the hands of musicians at this level, every single moment becomes a highlight.
Even with just two instruments, jazz can be genuinely exciting. And the fact that two different pairings of the same instrumentation can sound completely different in character is one of the things that makes this music so interesting.
Picking up the kind of interplay these duos build takes more than just listening — having a teacher point out specifically what’s happening between the bass and the rest of the band is where it really starts to click.
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