Search - Dick Hyman & Derek Smith :: Dick & Derek at the Movies

These Dick Hyman and Derek Smith piano duets constitute consuming musical studies that achieve brilliant displays of technique and economy. Here there is no ambiguity: you know and feel what Hyman and Smith intend to accomplish at each point. What's astounding is that both pianists pull this duo off without getting in each other's way or stumbling over their own feet, avoiding the tangle of notes so often found in piano duets. Hyman and Smith could not have chosen lovelier, more graceful selections to share with us. And share they do. Listen casually and then, again, studiously to "Laura," "You Are Too Beautiful," and "The Way You Look Tonight." Hyman and Smith make tasteful and technically perfect contributions, always at precisely the right moment. And mercifully these are artists who know enough not to take liberties with the songs they choose and, among other things, sidestep the overimitated, behind-the-beat, multiple chording that characterize so many Erroll Garner wannabes who seem to favor these classic ballads. It's quite simply a pleasure to note the absence of stylistic imitations of anyone on this CD. --Daniel Bartlett Jr.