Jim Hall Alone Together CD

Personnel: Jim Hall (guitar); Ron Carter (bass).
Recorded live at the Playboy Club, New York, New York on August 4, 1972. Originally released on Milestone (9045).
Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1990, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).
Personnel: Jim Hall (guitar).
Audio Remasterer: Phil DeLancie.
Audio Remixer: Elvin Campbell.
Recording information: Jazz Adventures Concert, Playboy Club, New York, NY (08/04/1972); The Playboy Club, New York, NY (08/04/1972).
Photographers: Katsuji Abe; Tony Lane.
Unknown Contributor Role: Ron Carter Duo .
Long considered a classic and a revelation to listeners who had taken guitarist Jim Hall for granted, this set of duets with bassist Ron Carter (reissued on CD) has near-telepathic communication between the two musicians and quiet music full of inner tension and fire. Hall and Carter brought in an original apiece and also collaborated on six standards, including "St. Thomas," "Softly As in a Morning Sunrise," "Autumn Leaves," and "Alone Together." Introspective and thought-provoking music. ~ Scott Yanow
ALONE TOGETHER is one of the great duet albums in instrumental jazz. Guitarist Jim Hall and bassist Ron Carter are renowned as both studio musicians and members of stellar outfits (Hall played with Jimmy Giuffre and Art Farmer; Carter with Miles Davis's second great quintet). In the intimate, chamber-jazz atmosphere of these live dates, however, the true sensitivity and flexibility of both artists can be heard. Carter and Hall are sophisticated, harmonically advanced players. They value balance and space as much as technical showmanship, and both play with a cool tone and rhythmically intricate flair that scintillates as it soothes and seduces.
The majority of the program consists of standards ("Autumn Leaves" and "Prelude to a Kiss)," along with other covers (Sonny Rollins's "St. Thomas"). Hall contributes an original, the smoky "Whose Blues," as does Carter, with the sly bop flourishes on "Receipt, Please." Throughout, the music is playful, highly lyrical, energetic, and beautiful, while representing an almost uncanny telepathy between the two performers. Aside from faint crowd noise from the club audience, this album is perfection.Rolling Stone (7/19/73, p.55) - "...jewel of a little album...the improvisations of two of the finest instrumentalists in America...an exercise in comparative musical temperament..."