Audiophile Audition review

Reviewer: Robbie Gerson

As an accomplished composer, producer, record executive, performer and creative force in a broad spectrum of arts, Randy Klein has made an enormous contribution to the music scene. He has composed numerous documentary scores (many of them award-winning), a poetry adaption cycle, and various theatre music. He has recorded several solo jazz improvisational albums for his own label, Jazzheads. Klein has demonstrated a fervent commitment to musical exploration with an inspired and eclectic perspective.

The album Sunday Morning could have been a clichéd predictable concept. However, Klein has chosen to reflect a wide scope of moods with twelve original duo improvisations with trombonist, Chris Washburne, and saxophonist, Oleg Kireyev. In this format, the music exhibits a changing ebb and flow that contemplate thematic diversity.

On the haunting, “Truly Yours”, Klein’s delicate tango lines, allows Kireyev to counter with a soft atmospheric framing, often in dual melody lines. On two rhythmic pieces, “Hiding Out” and “I Caught You In A Lie”, the interaction changes as Washburne plays against the piano, showcasing a sharper tone, and swing cadence. A straight ahead jazz opus, “Lottery Day” switches the piano and saxophone dynamic to a rollicking and joyful rendering, with some interesting time changes. The same transition in style elevates the delicate and moving “Petits Pois” as the trombone and piano mold a graceful construct.

Klein’s play is both complementary and artistic. His uplifting solo on the effervescent “Doo Boo Bop” boasts a spirited technique, while the nuanced ruminations on “Fly Free” has a gossamer quality. Despite a two-instrument context, the melodies are interpreted with great detail, allowing for supple, yet piquant exchanges. Sunday Morning is the first release in the “Two Duos” series.