Vibraphonist Gary Burton and bassist Steve Swallow had played together on a regular basis since 1967. This duet outing finds Burton switching between vibes, organ and marimba while Swallow doubles on occasional piano. As expected, the music is introverted, quiet, and occasionally swinging, but mostly floating. Burton and Swallow perform group originals (generally by Swallow), plus Carla Bley's "Vashkar" and Mike Gibbs' "Inside In." Thoughtful background music with no real surprises or excitement.
Vibraphonist Gary Burton, one of the defining voices of ECM’s formative years, is worthily honored in this second “Works” series installment. His contributions as virtuoso and interpreter of the instrument are unparalleled, and on ECM both aspects of his career found ample space in which to flourish. This particular era of the 1970s, which followed his RCA blitz, showed him also to be a musician of great patience, as on The New Quartet. The 1973 classic dropped him into a studio with guitarist Mick Goodrick, bassist Abraham Laboriel, and drummer Harry Blazer for a set as gorgeously played as it was conceived. From it we are treated to Keith Jarrett’s “Coral,” of which every spindly leaf is accounted for, and Carla Bley’s “Olhos De Gato,” which waters a groove that is laid back but never subdued. Those chamber sensibilities give way to more luscious details in “Vox Humana,” another Bley tune that references 1976’s quintet outing, Dreams So Real.