Lines

Lines should have been subtitled "A Tribute to Lennie Tristano" because that's what this CD essentially is. Co-leading this March 1995 date, pianist Pandelis Karayorgis and alto saxman Eric Pakula embrace seven of Tristano's compositions (including "April," "Dreams," "Two Not One" and "Baby") along with Warne Marsh's "Background Music," Lee Konitz's "Kary's Trance" and some pieces of their own. Throughout the album, Karayorgis and Pakula's very different outlooks make for some interesting contrasts. While Karayorgis refuses to be the least bit sentimental, Pakula has no problem being lyrical one minute and intellectual the next. One thing they share, of course, is a healthy appreciation of Tristano's innovations, but thankfully, they do a great deal of interpreting instead of placing his music under a sheet of glass and treating it like a museum piece. The end result is an album that isn't overly accessible, but is certainly rewarding if you're willing to accept the improvisers on their own terms.