In her latest album, Sounding Line, pianist Carmen Staaf probes different lineups and approaches, reimagining the music of pianists Mary Lou Williams and Thelonious Monk as intimate ‘conversations’. Inspired by their friendship and shared musical sensibilities, Staaf revisits two Monk pieces and three Williams gems — respectful but never slavish — while adding two of her own.
Duets with the incomparable trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire bookend the album. Williams’ “Scorpio” is stripped down to a six-beat piano bass figure over which Akinmusire unfurls his rich lyricism and unmistakable tone before the duo slides seamlessly into a 4/4 blues. The closer, Staaf’s “The Water Wheel” conjures magic. There’s nowhere to hide in a piano/trumpet duet and yet…