★★★★★
If you had a good pandemic, is it finally OK to admit it? The German brothers Julian and Roman Wasserfuhr are happy to say that it offered space in which to broaden their horizons and compose this excellent album. Travel restrictions weren’t a problem. First they taped a version where they played all the instruments, artists overseas re-recorded their relevant bits, then the Wasserfuhrs redid theirs in response, a true collaboration.
Julian’s smoky trumpet and Roman’s elegant, classically poised piano give a solid backbone to the venture, their fluid style gaining strength in combination. On Aki Puh they play a gently rolling theme into which Tony Lakatos’s tenor saxophone insinuates before weaving curlicues of its own. Forward is a forthright folk dance with Vitaliy
