May 2005

Marc Copland/Greg Osby
Night Call
Nagel-Heyer

By Steve Futterman

Pianist Marc Copland brings out a special quality in saxophonist Greg Osby. On Night Call (Nagel-Heyer), their second duet recording, Copland coaxes particular lyricism and measured pacing from his partner, who can often sound in too much of a hurry to exhibit his prodigious gifts as an improviser. Original ballads and mid-tempo performances are the main story here, and both men react to the material and each other with quick-wit reflexes. Yet their meeting never generates into a battle for technical supremacy. Osby may maintain his cool, but his restraint is as delicious as it is welcome; Copland, as anyone familiar with his fine albums as a leader already knows, is a focused, ever-sensitive player, as attuned to apt accompaniment as he is to solo passages. The players' shared taste for beauty lends "Night Call" its own radiance.