A Pair of Kings

Anyone who loves traditional jazz piano will recognize the names Ralph Sutton and Johnny Varro. Their careers have been on roughly parallel paths since the 1950s, when each had a turn as intermission pianist at Eddie Condon's Greenwich Village club. On this delightful album the two are paired in an unusual combination: two pianos with bass (Phil Flanagan) and drums (Ed Metz, Jr.). It's a potentially awkward arrangement, but they swing together beautifully, sometimes alternating solos and sometimes improvising together in a style reminiscent of the earliest days of New Orleans jazz. The program is strictly potboiler standards: "Oh, Lady, Be Good!," "Tea for Two," a Fats Waller medley, a Duke Ellington ballad. The liner notes, helpfully, diagram the solos on each track so that you can tell who's playing on which chorus. There's nothing here to change the world of jazz piano, but great music doesn't always have to be groundbreaking. Just relax and enjoy.