Admittedly, purchasing People Time will require a number of downloads, but the rewards will justify your commitment. People Time is comprised of seven albums of tenor and piano with Stan Getz and Kenny Barron, two masters who know each other well. They play great tunes, stretch out and move between the familiar and risk-taking. Neither needs to prove anything, so the sessions play like a magnificent lengthy conversation.

Getz always worked with the best, and here he is lucky enough to keep company with his favorite accompanist, being supplied with all the right cues; Barron prompts when it serves or lays back to provide a lush carpet of sound. We're also treated to Barron's solos. One of jazz's great unsung pianists (albeit one who works constantly) Barron improvises chorus after brilliant chorus — endlessly inventive streams of single-note lines, impeccable in their logic. I was struck by how easy the duo make playing this music sound, how seamlessly they wind their way through a lengthy program. Of course, there's nothing easy about it, but making it seem so is part of the trick. The albums consist largely of standards, and Getz seems to have certain favorites: "Surrey With the… read more »