COMPACT
DISC REVIEWCOMPACT
DISC REVIEW
By
Jack Rummel
Double Trouble
Frederick Hodges & Adam Swanson, pianos
Rivermont BSW-2211
Double Trouble* / Maple Leaf Rag / The Entertainer /
Swipesy Cake Walk / Stay Out of the South* / Dill Pickles / Take Me Out to the
Ballgame* / Nola / Canadian Capers / Happy Feet* / Pianoflage / Kitten on the
Keys /
Contrary to the “tongue-in-cheek” title of this album, when two of today’s most popular and talented performers put their heads – and hands – together to create a recording, good things are bound to happen. Frederick Hodges and Adam Swanson are two of the hottest ragtime pianists on the circuit today, and as they have been sighted with increasing frequency playing impromptu duets at festival “after-hours” gatherings, it was perhaps inevitable that a recording would emerge.
A quick glance reveals a playlist filled with familiar titles, yet these are wonderfully fresh arrangements. As an example, Hodges plays Maple Leaf Rag in the composer’s key of A-flat, while Swanson has mastered it in the key of C and they switch back and forth. Or try this: Hodges opens The Entertainer in the traditional 2/4 time but Swanson does a repeat in 3/4 time, Hodges then counters with a minor mode… and so it goes.
Their approach to the pieces, for the most part, seems to be for one pianist to be the “star” for a section and take the melody, including the improvisatory tricks and frills, while the other becomes the “accompanist” and plays mostly unobtrusive boom-chick bass. Then the roles are reversed in the sectional repeat. Attempts at counter-melodies or fugue-like passages by the accompanist are few and the overall result is very entertaining (think “cutting contest”) but less cohesive than if they had devised more arrangements that combined their pianistics toward a unified whole (such as they did on Canadian Capers, Kitten on the Keys and Space Shuffle, to good success).
Still, this is one of the best albums to appear this year. Recorded in one day in pristine sound on dual Fazioli Italian concert grand pianos, it features two incredible pianists having a wonderful time combining their talents. Hodges also has one of the better singing voices in ragtime today and his choice of material and his delivery make the vocal selections as entertaining as the piano duets. And to top it off, the liner notes, the color thumbnails of the covers and the extremely tasteful graphics make this offering by Frederick Hodges and Adam Swanson an album to remember. Recommended.
Available for $18.00 postpaid from
Rivermont Records,