Sublime piano and drums duo

Carmen Staaf and Allison Miller dialogues boundlessly on this new duo album.

Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf – Nearness (Sunnyside, 2022)

Piano and drums share the ability to be played both percussive and melodically which enables dialogue between the two instruments in ways which perhaps is less explored. How many duo albums have you heard between pianists and drummers? Cecil Taylor recorded a duo album with Max Roach, and there are of course several trio albums with animated dialogue between pianists and drummers.

Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf adds considerably to the small piano and drums duo library with this new album of only piano and drums duos. It is their second release as co-leaders and their first as a duo since the previous Science Fair (2018) featured a quintet.

Left to their own they have developed their interplay considerably. It sounds so sublime that I wonder if they play well-arranged parts or if they improvise. Especially on a track like Dan Dan where it sounds like they start and end each other’s phrases.

Nearness

The interplay between them is not only obviously rhythmic but also melodic. A good drummer will always play some melody on the kit and Miller plays it a lot as on the ballad Blue Thrush where she creates eerie sound effects on the cymbals and different bells, or on any track where she varies her playing from crisp cymbals to big booms on the bass drum.

Carmen Staaf answers with bass lines played with her left hand and lyrical chords and melodies played by her right. Miller creates further dynamics by shifting from playing out of time to pulse as on a track like Top Shelf.

Most of the tracks are originals by the two but there are also some standards as Ask Me Now by Thelonious Monk and Nearness of You by Hoagy Carmichael. Both on these songs and their own Staaf and Miller stay close to conventional melodies and rhythms which makes the album instantly appealing. But most of the time it is the sublime interplay between the two which makes me listen to this album over and over again. It really is an example of nearness just as the album title says.