Insight

Flexibility isn't an absolutely essential quality for a jazz musician to have; an improviser doesn't have to be incredibly daring or ultra-eclectic to record meaningful, worthwhile albums. But flexibility is certainly a positive quality to have — not essential, but definitely positive — and over the years, flexibility has worked quite well for acoustic bassist Gary Peacock, whose résumé includes everyone from Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett to Bill Frisell and Albert Ayler. His willingness to enter a variety of jazz situations has been a plus, and Insight — it turns out — is an album of intimate bass/acoustic piano duets with Marc Copland. This 58-minute CD was recorded from 2005-2007; Peacock was in his early seventies, and Copland was in his late fifties. By that time, both of them had long since earned their stripes and paid their share of dues; so neither of them have anything to prove on Insight. Instead, Insight sounds like the work of two musical friends getting together in the studio and having a mutually agreeable post-bop dialogue. That isn't to say that the performances are simplistic; there is plenty of complexity on this disc, which is dominated by Peacock and Copland's own writing but also contains four well-known standards ("Sweet and Lovely," Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way," and the Miles Davis gems "Blue in Green" and "All Blues"). Copland's pianism tends to be impressionistic and cerebral, but for listeners who aren't intimidated by all that complexity and intellect, it is evident that he and Peacock are really enjoying each other's company. Insight fall short of remarkable, although it is still a good, solid demonstration of the positive things that can happen when two seasoned jazz veterans get together.