Two of the Few (1983)
8 tracks, 46 minutes
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The name of this album is apt. It’s a meeting of two of the most scintillating jazz musicians of their time, for my money: Oscar Peterson on piano and Milt Jackson, ‘Bags,’ on vibraphone. And it really is just two, there’s no rhythm section here, and there doesn’t need to be. Peterson’s syncopated stride-ish style means that all the bases are covered. It’s actually striking when you realise that, oh yeah, this is just piano and vibes. Or sometimes that it’s just piano solo. He gets so much out of it. There’s no need for anyone else because they’ve got it all, and because there’s only two of them, the sound is so pure, with nothing extraneous whatsoever.
Although the album is obviously full of lovely duets, the reason I wanted to talk about this one in particular is the very last piece, the almost-title track ‘Here’s Two of the Few.’ It is absolutely exquisite. It’s quite a simple, slow 12-bar blues written by Jackson, and it really allows both players to demonstrate their skills in a completely relaxed setting. There’s no fireworks, just 100% assured-yet-playful mastery. The opening solo by Bags is so perfect and wraps up so neatly and pleasingly that every time I hear it I want to burst into applause. If there was an audience on the track, they’d have lost it. But as it is, there’s not, and so it feels like that solo is played directly just for me. For that feeling to be so palpable nearly 40 years after it was recorded shows some mad genius. And then OP comes in with his own solo and it’s just all so right. What a track.
Sometimes when you get a room full of the brightest minds in their sphere and get them to make art together, the results can fall strangely flat. But get two to meet on an equal footing in this way, and they can create pure magic. Even though it was recorded quite some time after post-bop’s heyday, Two of the Few is nevertheless one of the best.
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