CIMP 389 Dominic Duval (b.1944, NYC, NY) and Jimmy Halperin (b. 1958, Queens, NY) first worked together in 1982. In January 2004 they recorded their first release (CIMP 301) together, and, a few years later (February 2006) recorded their duo project, Monkinus (CIMP 348). They began work on this Coltrane project in 2008. Dominic, who enjoys referencing standards, had a number of times conveyed to me the joys and challenges he finds in playing with Jimmy, owing to Jimmy’s deft handling of the technical structures and the originality he uses to interpret the familiar. This time the duo confronts the world of Coltrane and, again, as I wrote of the Monk project, the object here was “to balance the familiar references yet extract enough from it to hold the reference while offering fresh vistas of exploration.” Dominic and Jimmy drove down after a previous night’s gig in Montreal, Quebec. After dealing with the snowy elements and fickle border crossings, they arrived around mid afternoon. They set up, conducted a sound check, and, after a supper punctuated by good food and silly conversation, we started recording around 8 p.m., opening with Changes on Spiral and establishing a pattern of variations on chord changes, a technique at the very core of Bop methodology. But this is not merely running the changes on Coltrane. The whole setting to this music can be disorienting: the left field approaches, the back door references, even the tone of Jimmy’s tenor sound. Jimmy’s playing style seems counter to the expected and forces the listener out of a comfortable position and into a fresh encounter with familiar references. At other times one can get lost in the wistful meanderings of the duo, as on the For Heaven’s Sake Variations which tracks into a netherworld quite detached from the space and time of its circumstances. Originally rankled by the harsh polyphonic overtone at the 02:03 mark, I considered not using this take. But the allure of the subsequent extemporizations removed the harshness of the slur. I continued to be jarred by the slur on further relistenings and, yet, each time I became lost in those subsequent improvisations. So here is music­: themes and variations inspired by John Coltrane­, sometimes directly referencing it, other times tenuously cross-referencing for inspiration. Often breathtaking, occasionally rapturous, even on occasion bizarrely baffling, but always stimulating. Similar vehicles, different trips. Enjoy the ride(s). But you must climb aboard and give yourself over to the navigation. Robert D. Rusch - January 9, 2009 Dominic Duval can also be heard on CIMPs 106, 110, 114, 119, 122, 126, 134, 137, 139, 141, 148, 149, 153, 155, 162, 165, 171, 173, 178, 180, 181, 183, 199, 204, 209, 215, 221, 234, 254, 256, 257, 261, 268, 269, 270, 275, 283, 299, 301, 307, 308, 320, 328, 347, 348, 363, 367, 369, 381, and CIMPOL 5001, 5003, 5006-5012, 5015-5019, 5020-5024 Jimmy Halperin can also be heard on CIMPs 301, 348, CIMPOL 5020-5024CIMP 389 His limited discography as a leader may well be explained by the deliberateness exhibited in both his playing and composition. Such careful consideration obviously carries over into his recording choices and are well worth the wait. Emotive. Thinking. This is music worthy of your attention.