“A little less than a year ago we looked at the debut album by the talented London-based bassist Steve Lawson, a disc which afforded an amazing variety of perspectives from the instrument of a musician blessed with a keen melodic sense and an innate propensity to experiment. Now Steve has shifted focus, taking on a new challenge, together with pianist Jez Carr, based on a series of spontaneous improvisations which, as the two musicians assure us in the sleeve notes, have not been planned in any way, but were approached as a conversation (hence the album’s title).
And the resulting feeling of looseness is like that of a quiet chat over a coffee in which the most diverse subjects are addressed, wandering from one point to the next following a logical thread that only a dialogue can have. Barely murmured phrases, sounds that rise up to emphasise certain points, whispers and laughter, all skilfully evoked by Lawson’s mellow bass and Carr’s refined jazzy piano, which over the sixty-five minutes bear witness to a rare sensibility, together with an excellent training and a remarkable aptitude for more extreme challenges. How can we extrapolate from these outlines something that stands out against the rest when the whole is so close to perfection and when everything is so magically balanced, so beautifully ethereal?
A disc that reinforces the idea of improvised music as one of the highest musical forms, where the deepest secrets of the human heart surface, allowing a pure approach founded on the innocence of the listener and vulnerability of the musician to create an unrepeatable piece of magic, free from restrictions, expectations and preconceptions. Magnificent! Allow yourself to be involved in Conversations, which will free you from your mortal remains for a little more than an hour and let your mind contemplate the universe from a privileged viewpoint. You will not regret it. Available from Pillow Mountain Records. “