Sam Leak’s new duo-piano album with Dan Tepfer, as I have come to expect, is an eclectic mix of the sublime and the harmonically disarranged. Adrift (Jellymould Jazz) boasts a quirkiness which Sam has developed to the nth degree, yet this is undoubtedly also a piano suite composed with structure and a musical destination.
The album opens with lush, rich piano lines on “Adrift I,” traveling up and down the keyboard in a vastly exuberant energetic delivery, tailored from time to time with moments of quietude and serenity. Avoiding clashes which could so easily happen as the melodic lines pass and divert, come together and travel in tandem, the duo send out an emotive message in this opening track.
“Adrift II” is livelier, with gorgeous overtones of familiarity. For some reason, I keep coming back to Rodger’s “People Will Say We’re in Love,” but that’s possibly just me. The two piano players converse musically across the piece with one setting off on a rhythm, the other countering with rolling themed chromatics underneath – and then they swap, the top part becoming staccato and impertinent whilst the other creates waves and ripples of sound underneath. The harmonies on this track vary from simple to hugely complex, the listening enjoyable. The abrupt end makes you want to cry with frustration.
“Adrift III’ begins with a sonorous bass line over which the upper-line plays, dives and takes off, crossing the full octaves of the key board. Only the change in pressure denotes which player is taking which line at which time. “Adrift IV” is simple, beautiful and the soundscape created is an empty one, into which drip and then pour the creative talents of the two musicians. The silences are perfectly placed, as are most of the notes and this is a piece with firm classical alliances, whilst at the same time allowing the essence of creativity Sam Leak and Dan Tepfer are associated with. The softening and falling away are perfect as they create a light, distilled atmosphere where each note can be heard pure and clear.
“Adrift V” is structured, standard duet material – until about the 30-second mark, where it decides to take itself off in two contrapuntal directions (at once). Simply gorgeous and with two ear worms vying for the ear, one can begin to wish there was a different perspective with which to listen to each line. Fast, rippling suddenly switched by clever chords into static and staccato chordal links. Did I say this was interesting? “Adrift VI” is different again with chord progressions at the beginning, all pleasant and simple – then it morphs somehow into a rapid-fire free ranging complex and wonderful number which does nothing but develop and improve all the way through. The timing, you realize has to be perfect for this effect, and it almost is. I heard Gershwin in there too at the end, I am almost sure.
“Adrift VII” is another variation on the duet dialogue, and this time with a 2/4 rhythm which crosses and crosses back over the emphasized second beat. Wonderful. Then it gets really busy and the rhythm, relentless and capricious, is countered with chords worked over the top and then even more complexity is added, with some extra themes running over the top. Yet, this still sounds easy on the ears because the harmonics are great in the major keys, only occasionally tracking off to the minor and then you know about it. This is possibly the most interesting track on Adrift and the section after the five-minute mark in the final section is temporarily mind blowing. “Adrift VIII” is short, gentle and simply a great finish to the album.
Adrift can be listened to either as one continuous track or, as I decided to listen to it, split into different tracks. I think the latter may have been an error on my part, as some of the tracks seem to finish abruptly – but of course, they should flow into the next. My next lesson will be in continuous mode, because really this is a suite, a set of tunes which should be played together and in one take.
The album was created during a very cold season in New York, with clanging radiators in the studio and a few disasters, but Sam Leak and Dan Tepfer got through. Dan said that the art, he felt, was to make the written parts feel as if they were improvised – and if you feel like not playing, well, don’t. This creates a more in-the-moment feeling. Sam feels the balance of improvised areas along with the compositional structure is important. I would say both are right and on this recording, they have achieved something rather wonderful.
The loveliness of Adrift is how both players travel the keyboard, the notes chopping, changing and circling each other, yet rarely, if ever, clashing or coming to a point where they hit the same chords for more than about four beats. There is an enjoyable clarity of the notes too. Sometimes with duos, the notes become a little blurred in the delivery but here, you can literally hear each one, which is great and also engaging, because interesting things are happening in each line most of the time.
There are some parts where you get the sense of a train track, two lines merging before each goes off on two different journeys, before returning to the same line and traveling side by side for just a bit. Sam Leak and Dan Tepfer’s Adrift is delightful, strong and vibrant. It is uplifting, bursting with bravado and energy, which makes listening easy yet also engaging, as there is enough going on to keep both brain and ears engaged right the way through.
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