Dave Gelly 

Stan Sulzmann and Nikki Iles: Stardust review – verging on the stupendous

This set of sax-and-piano standards is as charming as it is technically brilliant
  
  

stan sulzmann and nikki iles
‘Great charm’: Stan Sulzmann and Nikki Iles. Photograph: Monika S Jakubowska

Saxophone-and-piano duets are tricky, mainly because, as listeners, we’re used to hearing a double bass providing support and feel a bit lost without it. The players can be left feeling exposed too, except when they’re as good as Stan Sulzmann and Nikki Iles, in which case they revel in the occasional moments of uncertainty that occur. As a display of technical and mental agility, these nine pieces verge on the stupendous, but they also have great charm. Mainly improvisations on elegant old standards, they overflow with melody and a kind of cheeky good nature. In the notes, Sulzmann describes one of them, Nobody Else But Me, as “a great tune with a few fun twists” – which just about sums it up.

 

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