*** Enrico Rava/Ran Blake

DUO EN NOIR

(Between the Lines)

This live concert of piano and trumpet improvisations triumphs by imaginatively expressing the spirit of film noir. Inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock centennial, and galvanized by the ghosts of Miles and Monk, Rava and Blake have an unerring way of rethinking the harmonic possibilities of standard fare like "Nature Boy," which refracted through their dark psyches ends up sounding like an elegy for nature. "Tea for Two" seems almost conventional until the wildly dissonant finale. And Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" is transfigured by Blake into a wistful, lyrical question about whether anyone should bother with romantic union. Best of all is a tribute to Hitchcock's Vertigo, where music from the film dreamily floats into the old ballad "Laura." An air of unresolved mystery is sustained through a dryly acerbic trumpet sound blended with piano filigree of disquieting lyricism. There's a deep spiritual and musical empathy between these two artists, who seem thrilled at the chance to bring a sense of cinematic suspense to well-worn jazz chestnuts.

-- Norman Weinstein