Free Association

Jim Hall and Geoffrey Keezer join forces for this exciting duo project, a limited-edition CD available exclusively through ArtistShare, ranging from intimate arrangements to joint improvisations. The two talented players, who are decades apart in age, are very much on a similar wavelength. Starting with a spacy revisit to Hall's Latin-flavored "End the Beguine" (previously recorded with Dave Holland on the CD Jim Hall & Basses, the guitarist moves on to his quirky bop vehicle "A Merry Chase," which is full of surprising lines from both musicians. Both of the joint improvisations "Free Association" and "Counter Transference" have a bit of a menacing air. The one live track, "Furnished Flats," a playful, adventurous blues, comes from a set at Birdland. Hall's "Ouagadoudou" is the most extended performance, setting up a Mideastern flavor with its droning introduction before entering free jazz territory with Keezer's adventurous piano. This CD is anything but background music, it needs several hearings to be truly appreciated. Highly recommended!