Tom Teasley and Dave Ballou - Where the Ocean Meets the Sky (Self Release) [Jazz]

After the spiritual jazz joys of "Prayer for the Ancestors", Tom Teasley and Dave Ballou are back in the blog as squirrelled away in their latest, most welcome collaborative album, Inner Play is another low-gravity ambient jazz gem, which, for me, is what they do best. That's not to dismiss their other work, and anyone with an interest in jazz should check out the at times playful and onomatopoeic "Woodpeckers Dilemma", the swaying groove of "Elephant Dance", the free-spirited "Outside Inn" or the other more contemplative tracks - "Reflection" and the evocative "Matador's Lament", or any of the other cuts for that matter - they're always worth checking.

But again, I'm homing in on my album pick, maybe a sign of the music singles led time that we live in? Teasley must have lost his sticks for this one, but fear not, there's always some exotic.sounding hand-played percussion close by, and for this one he settled on the RAV drum (I know, I had to look it up too). The hands on metal immediately set a tranquil, peaceful, spiritual scene - more in a new age rather than Pharoah Sanders way, that Ballou wisely lets the listener take in before his trumpet rises over the hills to the east, bathing the good-natured, possible wellness-imbuing setting with some warming, succinct, beautifully articulated playing that says more than words ever could. It's another ethereal jazz gem from the pair.

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Playlist Companion

Find the pair in the Slow Jazz Playlist.