Altair & Vega
EONE MUSIC 2125
Altair & Vega is an ambitious, unique and well-executed album that’s the product of a 12-year collaboration between Bob James and Keiko Matsui. The CD, which includes a DVD, finds the pair expoloring the four-hand piano tradition of the 19th century. James and Matsui, who play together so well they sound like one person, blur the line between jazz and classical. Eighth-notes are often straight, most of the music is written, and the fair amount of rubato and sustain pedal gives the music a slight Romantic period feel, especially on Matsui’s “Invisible Wing.” James’ “Divertimento” is a variation of a piano duet piece by Haydn on which James and Matsui converse in various jazz and classical dialects. James’ arrangement of Bach’s “Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring” stays relatively close to the original melody, although the several reharmonized sections are quite dissonant. The more jazz-inspired pieces, such as the title track, are quiet, introspective and frequently quite gorgeous.
The DVD contains selections from James and Matsui’s 2010 concert at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in Pittsburgh. Watching their performance changes the way one listens to the CD, and the DVD shows the choreography involved in four-hand piano playing. Matsui often pulls her left arm in and slides closer to James on the bench for closely voiced three-hand passages and at times each player reaches across the other to get to one of the piano’s extremes. Three of the DVD’s six pieces are not heard on the CD: James gives an impressionistic and subtly swinging solo treatment of Ray Noble’s “The Touch Of Your Lips,” Matsui’s solo composition “Trees” is relaxing and Tranquil, an James’ piece “Duo Oto Subito” mixes written four-hand parts with solos by each player.
—Chris Robinson (Downbeat Magazine)
Altair & Vega: CD: Altair & Vega; Frozen Lake; Divertimento “The
Professor & The Student”; Midnight Stone; Invisible Wing; The
Forever Variations; Chorale From Cantata BWV 147 (47:41). DVD:
Divertimento: “The Professor & The Student”; Frozen Lake; Trees;
Duo Oto Subito; The Touch Of Your Lips; Forever Variations (45:10).
Personnel: Bob James, piano; Keiko Matsui, piano.