The number climaxes with some ‘shout!’ choruses with the baritones leaping about a unison solo line as the rhythm powers along. Cuber solos first, perhaps the slightly bigger tone, with Smulyan maybe the more athletic stylist around his instrument. The opening Horace Silver tune Blowin’ The Blues Away sets the scene – a racing 12-bar with unison theme statement.

The ten tracks here feature eight (pretty well-known) standards along with a couple of Cuber originals in the same vein. This session, recorded in April 2019, is titled Tough Baritones, and the links with the famous Tough Tenors sessions of Johnny Griffin and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis in the 1960s are clear for all to hear fast tempos, bluesy boppy and bossa-ish, no holds barred and the rhythm section scampering to keep up. The cover of this CD shows how physically different they are, with Cuber appearing twice the size of Smulyan as they grin at the camera. Gary Smulyan, 15 years Cuber’s junior, seems to have played with all the people that Cuber didn’t, including decades in the baritone chair of the Vanguard Orchestra (formerly the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band), that Monday night fixture of the New York scene. Cuber, now approaching 80 years of age and still playing with huge energy, has recorded with everyone from Slide Hampton to Lee Konitz to Frank Zappa, and was a founding member of the Mingus Big Band. 1941) and Gary Smulyan (b.1956) have been leading their field for decades, and it seems almost unbelievable that this is their first duet date.

These two titans of the baritone saxophone team up for a straight-ahead session with joyful noises and blazing virtuosity to the fore. (Steeplechase SCCD 31903 – CD review by Mark McKergow) Ronnie Cuber/Gary Smulyan – Tough Baritones

Split by Mel Bossa