Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Veteran trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and pianist Amina Claudine Myers’ duet meditation on Manhattan’s largest open space is more psychic response than sonic portrait. Titled Central Park’s Mosaic of Reservoir, Lake, Paths and Gardens, the album hints at autumnal shades and rippling water, but its core interest lies in the ruminations they inspire. The result is a record of slowly unfolding pleasures and subtly changing moods.As on Smith’s previous nature-influenced work, bold blasts of trumpet are juxtaposed with delicate muted sustains while etched lines deliver clear emotional shapes. Here, though, the vibe is more intimate, thanks to the strength of Myers’ tensile piano and organ support. Smith’s vibrancy remains, but now wistful piano harmonies, sacred organ tones and shaded discords inject a frisson of unease.Smith and Myers first met in 1960s Chicago as members of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Their paths have crossed ever since but, though both are now in their eighties, this is their first collaborative release. Unhurried, steeped in atmosphere, their rapport inhabits every note.The set begins with Myers spaciously sketching a downbeat harmonic sequence on piano; Smith enters confidently in the trumpet’s upper range before shading his improvisation into a minor key. That piece, “Conservatory Gardens”, evolves as an elegiac duet, but the stark chords of “Central Park at Sunset” embed Smith’s trumpet sustains with a sense of threat.In contrast, Myers’ dense, churchlike organ imbues “Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir” with loss and regret, and the muted trumpet on “The Harlem Meer” twins uplift with poignancy.Myers combines tinkling abstraction with gospel cadence on “When Was”, her solo feature. The album ends with duet tributes to two musicians who were advocates for peace. “Albert Ayler, a Meditation in Light” tinges joy with sorrow and turns briefly to the blues; “Imagine, a Mosaic for John Lennon” is minimalist, controlled and stately.★★★★☆Available on Red Hook Records
