Gary Burton & Chick Corea Crystal Silence

The Corea/Burton duo was brought together by producer Manfred Eicher, and “Crystal Silence” brought a new chamber music sensibility into jazz improvisation, distinguished by an effervescence of melody and countermelody, with synchronized cascades of sound in continually changing harmonic movement.

It all begins here, with “Crystal Silence”. The title says it all: silence crystallized into dazzling melodic gems, each its own prismatic doorway into improvisatory translucence. Corea offers a fine set of five compositions (the most notable being the slick opener "Señor Mouse"), along with three beautifully realized tunes by bassist Steve Swallow ("Arise, Her Eyes" being a personal favorite), and another by Mike Gibbs (the somber "Feelings And Things"). In spite of the variety of voices represented here, the album grows like one long, extended story, a dynamic that seems to shadow the musicians wherever they set foot.

The title track is a subdued tour de force in style, presentation, and content. "Falling Grace" (Swallow) is one of the shorter pieces on tap, but what it lacks in time it makes up for in exhilaration. The album ends with an instrumental version of another Return classic, "What Game Shall We Play Today." Each piece is rendered with such dynamic sensitivity that one can immediately recognize the effect Crystal Silence must have had when originally released, and no doubt continues to have to this day. Connected as they are by the same mellow fuse, these tunes need hardly a spark to set them to glowing.