TWO FOR TWO

Duo w /Han Bennink

Free jazz can be an earnest affair, but not with these two. Pianist Aki Takase and drummer Han Bennink have been playing together for years, and there’s an easy playfulness about everything they do. Witty abstract patterns jostle with scraps of waltz and crazily exaggerated Thelonious Monk-like progressions, plus (in Rolled Up) a sly reference to the well-worn standard I’m Beginning to See the Light. It’s a total delight.
Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph, London, September 8, 2011

MyTokyo