Jazz at the Bistro
Between them, the young duo of Benny Green and Russell Malone has a world of experience, having played with such jazz masters asRay Brown,Harry Connick Jr.,Betty Carter,Diana Krall, andBranford Marsalis. This live date captures the terrific twosome delivering a tasty palette of blues, standards, and ballads. Malone's guitar lines are impressive and encyclopedic, ranging fromWes Montgomery's ringing double octaves toJoe Pass's tender timbres. Green's pianisms imbue  everything he plays with a haze of blues. They both treat chestnuts likeCannonball Adderley's "Wabash,"Billy Strayhorn's "Intimacy of the Blues," andJohn Coltrane's "Moment's Notice/Lazy Bird" with dazzling and deft improvisations. Here, in front of an appreciative audience, these musicians beautifully highlight the difference between just making a record and actually playing music.--Eugene Holley Jr.