Julie Sassoon / Willi Kellers

Angling the piano-percussion duet in a novel fashion is the Berlin-based duo of British keyboardist Julie Sassoon, who usually leads her own quartet and German drummer Willi Kellers, often found in a piano-less bands with saxophonists like Frank Paul Schubert or Simon Rose. During Waves two CDs, one a live concert and the other an abbreviated studio meeting, the two, unconsciously come across as the Louis Prima and Keely Smith of Free Jazz. Like the 1950s-Las Vegas favored duo, Sassoon in vocalist’s Smith role, uses her piano command to straightforwardly outline the set’s six tunes, while Kellers as the clownish Prima, uses all manner of percussion triggers and tropes as well as harmonica wheezing to disrupt the proceedings, even as he’s casually aiding the sound exposition.

All kidding aside, Waves offers up waves of profound protracted playing with each participant fully cognizant of the other’s talents. In miniature this is probably best expressed on “Soulplay”. As Sassoon’s sprawling keyboard exposition is vigorously stretched to abject formalism, Kellers matches the expanse with clatters, clunks and pinpointed pops, with the two eventually reaching a sympathetic meld. The drummer’s serious buffoonery is featured throughout, but is at its most expansive during the more than 18½ minute show piece “If You Ever Change Your Mind”. Featuring similar line expansion from Sassoon, whose harmonic intensity quickly moves from inner piano-string plucks and powerful key strums to outline a shimmering melody that sweeps in energetic harmonies by the finale. With Kellers juddering rhythm projecting both closely attuned accompaniment and noisy challenges, the piece reaches the point of no return at the three-quarter mark when harmonica slurs become an accomplished display of foot-stomping tremolo blowing that wouldn’t be out of place on a disc of Old Timey Appalachian music. That out of the way, the two display their sophisticated musical smarts by blending that ditty with some off-key whistling, off-centre vocalizing and keyboard patterning into the final section of the narrative which ends both energetically and logically.

Most of the other tracks follow the same standard, with Sassoon also contributing the odd vocalization as she canny exposes tropes ranging from slowly unrolling arpeggios to a near tango melody, maintaining but emphasizing the groove. Similarly as many metal-emphasized cymbal scratches or bass drum shatters and slams he plays to offset the piano’s kinetic power, Kellers also keeps the music on an even keel and collaborates in pushing it forward.

Unlike the show band successors to Prima and Smith you aren’t likely to find Sassoon and Kellers headlining Las Vegas bistros in this lifetime. But any gig they have at a local Jazz club would be a must-see.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: CD1: Live in Munich: 1. If You Ever Change Your Mind 2. Twilight 3.The Unfortunate Miss Jones 4. Pygmy Song 5. Soulplay CD2: rbb session 1. The Cormorant.

Personnel: Julie Sassoon (piano and voice) and Willi Kellers (drums and percussion)