Two duos playing the full range of jazz at the Bird’s Eye in Basel, 27 February 2025

Last night, the Bird’s Eye in Basel featured two quite distinct duos: Tim Garland (saxophone) and Jason Robello (piano), and then Izumi Kimura (piano) and Gerry Hemingway (drums, vibes, bowed cymbal, harmonica, vocals). Garland and Robello’s songs were all in standard jazz format with head, solos, and head, all originals except one standard, Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Moon River” (1961). Kimura and Hemingway’s compositions were much less conventional, sometimes with rubato fragments of sound, sometimes with aggressive thunder, and with much in between. And when they turned to free improvisation, Hemingway introduced a superb piece of spontaneous composition on vibes and piano with the memorable phrase “something for right now.” (Andrew Shields, #111Words, 28 February 2025)