Daniel Schläppi & Marc Copland More Essentials - Cw150013-2 - Jazz - by Avi Music

Silence. First there is silence. Then there are delicate basslines, playfully plucked on the upright bass. Silence once more, before the piano begins a floating melody. It is with minimalist, almost somnambulistic notes that "More Essentials" begins, the second CD by Swiss bass player Daniel Schläppi and American pianist Marc Copland. After their first collective album "Essential" (CATWALK, 2012) and four joint tours, on "More Essentials" the two musicians now continue their dialogue initiated in 2010. It is evident that two souls have met who have a lot to tell each other and other people. For this album the two musicians chose amongst others songs by Charlie Parker, Horace Silver, Joni Mitchel and Miles Davis. "We didn’t follow any set criteria to choose the songs", according to Daniel Schläppi, "this is the music which has been accompanying us for a long time and which offers us the ideal scope for our play". Marc Copland contributes the composition "LST". The songs are linked by five "Essential", improvisations by Daniel Schläppi which function more like a commentary or a implied smile of approval to the other than as a transition to the next piece of music. "The basics of duo playing is dialogic interplay" says Daniel Schläppi, "while playing in a duo your separate identity is questioned, even almost canceled and yet extremely enriched". The duo, as the smallest musical unit, demands from both players absolute active listening, no matter who leads the theme or who follows. "This positve exchange stimulates me, but also the friction and the opposition with my counterpart".