Top 10 Drum Duet Albums

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Saturday night I go to see Charles Lloyd and Zakir Hussein doing a tribute to the late great Billy Higgins, and I'm really digging Lloyd and Billy's "Which Way Is East" (which is mostly drum duets) and finally tracked down (at Jazzmatazz) a copy of Bangception, which is Great!, and all that's got to me thinking how much I like the drum duet, stripped down jazz, just the beat and the voice.



1. John Coltrane/ Rashied Ali -- Interstellar Space

2. Don Cherry/ Ed Blackwell -- El Corazon

3. Charles Lloyd/ Billy Higgins -- Which Way Is East

4. Billy Bang/ Den(n)is Charles -- Bangception, Willisau 1982

The first two are among my favorite jazz albums; the third and fourth are new to me but -- after a single listen each -- both seem tremendous, and have inspired this thread. At this moment, I'd be hard-pressed to pick a single favorite from among these four: I think I admire the first the most and have known it the longest, that I love the second the most, and that I am most excited by the third and fourth, both of which await a very eager second listen.)

5. Fritz Hauser -- Zwei (A great collection of duets with a half-dozen artists, including Lauren Newton, Pauline Oliveros, & Christy Doran,)

6. Cecil Taylor/ Han Bennink -- Spots, Circles, and Fantasy

7. Ellery Eskelin/ Han Bennink -- Dissonant Characters

8. Ralph Towner/ Peter Erskine -- Open Letter

9. Kahil El'Zabar/ Billy Bang -- Spirits Entering

10. Shelly Manne/ Russ Freeman -- The Three and The Two (The "Two" part of the album, of course, although it's "The Three" Part, with Shorty Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre, that I like best.)

[LeMo]

- John Coltrane/ Rashied Ali: "Interstellar Space" (Impulse!)

- Evan Parker/ Paul Lytton: "At The Unity Theatre" (psi)

- Cecil Taylor/ Tony Oxley: "Leaf Palm Hand" (FMP)

- Evan Parker/ Eddie Prévost: "Most Material" (Matchless)

- Cecil Taylor/ Louis Moholo: " Remembrance" (FMP)

- Joe McPhee/ Johnny McLellan: "Grand Marquis" (Boxholder)

- Max Roach/ Anthony Braxton:"Birth and Rebith" (Black Saint)

- Peter Brötzmann/ Hamid Drake: "The Dried Rat-Dog" (Okkadisc)

- Alexander von Schlippenbach & Sunny Murray: "Smoke" (FMP)

- Ivo Perelman/ Jay Rosen: "The Hammer" (Leo)

- David Murray/ Milford Graves: "Real Deal" (DIW)

- Ramon Lopez/ François Cotinaud: "Opéra" (Musivi)

- Paul Plimley/ Trichy Sankaran: "Ivory Ganesh Meets Doctor Drums" (Songlines)

- Hamid Drake & Sabir Mateen: "Brothers Together" (Eremite)

- Myra Melford & Han Bennink: "Eleven Ghosts" (hatOLOGY)

- Julius Hemphill/ Warren Smith: "Chile New York" (Black Saint)

- David Boykin: "The Nextspiritmental Musics of Saxophonist D.B." (Dreamtime)

Yes, I know it's not a top ten, but, well, nobody's perfect...

[stonemonkts]

Peter Brotzmann/Hamid Drake - Dried Rat Dog
John Coltrane/Rasheed Ali - Interstellar Space
David Murray/Milford Graves - Real Deal
Cecil Taylor/Max Roach - Historic Concerts
Anthony Braxton/Max Roach - Birth and Rebirth
Irene Schweizer/Gunter Sommer -s/t
Irene Schweizer/Pierre Favré - s/t
Cecil Taylor/Tony Oxley - Leaf Palm Hand
Cecil Taylor/Louis Moholo - Remembrance
Cecil Taylor/Gunter Sommer - Riobec

[Dan G]

when I saw the thread title, I thought you were asking for two-drummer sessions, which might be hard finding ten really good ones. This is easier:

Evan Parker/Eddie Prevost - Most Material
Derek Bailey/Eddie Prevost - Ore
Derek Bailey/Jamie Muir - Dart Drug
Evan Parker/Paul Lytton - RA
Yves Bouliane/John Heward - Masse au Tiers Controle
Cecil Taylor/Tony Oxley - Leaf Palm Hand
Alex von Schlippenbach/Sunny Murray - Smoke
Raymond Boni/Eric Echampard - Two Angels for Cecil
Paul Lovens/Toshinoro Kondo - The Last Supper
Misha Mengelberg/Han Bennink - MiHa
Han Bennink/Simon Nabatov - Chat Room

(LeMo - you actually like that Plimley/Sankaran album? I hated it. And what is the Ramon Lopez disc you mention. I like most of what I've heard of him.)

[Brian Olewnick]

Of actual drum duo sessions: Andrew Cyrille/Milford Graves - Dialogue of the Drums.

[LeMo]

Originally Posted by Dan G

(LeMo - you actually like that Plimley/Sankaran album? I hated it. And what is the Ramon Lopez disc you mention. I like most of what I've heard of him.)

Yep, I like it. At each his own (taste).
The Lopez/ Cotinaud is from 1992.
François Cotinaud plays sax (soprano, ténor) much in the Marsh/ West Coast style.
He has a web site where, I think, you can buy directly from him, even listen, I think.

Google his name to find it

[Vince Kargatis]

Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve

5. Fritz Hauser -- Zwei (A great collection of duets with a half-dozen artists, including Lauren Newton, Pauline Oliveros, & Christy Doran,)

Another Fritz Hauser duo album I really like, with Urs Leimgruber - L'Enigmatique (Hat Hut)

Nels Cline/Gregg Bendian's cover album of Interstellar Space is pretty fine too.

Close in spirit - Larry Ochs' Sax & Drumming Core (Ochs + 2 drummers)

[Dan G]

Originally Posted by Vince Kargatis

Another Fritz Hauser duo album I really like, with Urs Leimgruber - L'Enigmatique (Hat Hut)

The one on Unit, called DuHo, is also quite good. I was going to list one of them, but didn't for an odd reason - neither are nearly as good as the trio disc with Roidinger (Lines).

[LeMo]

Originally Posted by Brian Olewnick

Of actual drum duo sessions: Andrew Cyrille/Milford Graves - Dialogue of the Drums.

Also Susie Ibarra & Denis Charles: "Drums Talk" (Wobbly Rail)

[LeMo]

And I will add to my previous list:

- Susie Ibarra & Assif Tsahar: "Home Cookin'" (Hopscotch)

- Daniel Humair/ André Jaume: "Pépites" (CELP)

- Eric Barret/ Simon Goubert: "Linkage" (Marge)

[Dan G]

Originally Posted by Brian Olewnick

Of actual drum duo sessions: Andrew Cyrille/Milford Graves - Dialogue of the Drums.

The Cyrille/Vladimir Tarasov duo isn't bad.

Fred Anderson--Hamid Drake Back Together Again

[lazarus]

This is a gem!! Released in 1973.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve

2. Don Cherry/ Ed Blackwell -- El Corazon

10. Shelly Manne/ Russ Freeman -- The Three and The Two (The "Two" part of the album, of course, although it's "The Three" Part, with Shorty Rogers and Jimmy Giuffre, that I like best.)

Steve, do you also have Cherry & Blackwell's Mu? Great stuff

Do you know Freeman & Manne's One on One, recorded, I think, in 1981? I think it's the last documentation of Freeman playing jazz.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Steve, do you also have Cherry & Blackwell's Mu? Great stuff

Do you know Freeman & Manne's One on One, recorded, I think, in 1981? I think it's the last documentation of Freeman playing jazz.

Pete: I do have Mu, and enjoy it although it's not quite as good as the later album. But I don't know One on One. I kind of deficient in Manne overall, actually.

[Sand]

Tore Brunborg/Jarle Vespestad - Orbit

Petter Wettre/Per Oddvar Johansen - The Only Way To Travel
- Wettre won the Norwegian Jazz Grammy for this one and said he had sold 256 cds and that he knew who each and every one of those who had bought it.

Ken Vandermark/Paal Nilssen-Love - Dual Pleasure

Isglem - Fire!

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Squaredancecalling Steve

I kind of deficient in Manne overall, actually.

My favorites are "Swinging Sounds," "More Swinging Sounds" & "The Gambit" (with Freeman, Charlie Mariano, Stu Williamson & Leroy Vinnegar/Monty Budwig), from 1956-57, "At The Manne Hole" volumes 1 & 2 (Freeman, Conte Candoli, Richie Kamuca & Chuck Berghofer), 1961, and "Boss Sounds" (with Freeman, Candoli, Frank Strozier & Budwig), 1966.

[shrugs]

seek this one out if you still have a turntable

Alexander Von Schlippenbach/Paul Lovens Stranger Than Love

[Chuck Nessa]

Don't think anyone mentioned the Lester Bowie/Phillip Wilson duo on IAI. I have a soft spot for that one for (probably) obvious reasons.

For something much earlier, one 78 side, not an album, I recommend the Bud Freeman/Ray McKinley duet called The Atomic Era recorded in 1945!

FWIW, I find Mu superior to El Corazon.

[frankiepop]

Willem Breuker/Han Bennink
New Acoustic Swing Duo

[michaelr]

I'll add:

The last supper - Toshinori Kondo/Paul Lovens (Po Torch)
MU (parts 1 and 2) - Don Cherry/Ed Blackwell (BYG)

I'll also echo the mention of Irene Schweizer's duets with drummers. The new release with Pierre Favre on Intakt is a nice return to that format for her.

[john williams]

John Surman/Jack DeJohnette : Invisible Nature

And many of the others mentioned above.

[Brian Olewnick]

How about the Jarrett/Dejohnette album, "Ruta & Daitya" on ECM from the early 70s? I find that this one holds up surprisingly well.

[stonemonkts]

How could I forget this:

Alex von Schlippenbach/Tony Oxley - Digger's Harvest

[michaelr]

Another couple to add to the list:

Jimmy Lyons/Andrew Cyrille -- Something in Return
Blackwell/Dewey Redman -- In Willisau

Also, a few that are worth mentioning, though maybe not all-time Top 10:

Denis Charles/Jemeel Moondoc duet "We Don't"
Peter Brötzmann & Walter Perkins -- "The Ink Is Gone"

[frankiepop]

well i dont think it's been mentioned
but i will dare say that

the best drum duo recording is

max roach/anthony braxton one in two two in one -- hat

the 2nd maybe

max roach/anthony braxton Birth and Rebith (Black Saint)
which has been mentioned


close runner up and and maybe winner could be
brotzmann/drake dried rat dog

[jazzfiend]

WOW!!!

This 2-cd set makes my top 5, which also includes Lloyd/Higgins, Which Way is East.