*** Julian Priester/Sam Rivers

HINTS ON LIGHT AND SHADOW

(Postcards)

Trombonist Priester's temperate, mellow tone and smooth delivery is especially well suited to the intimate setting of these duets (with electronic treatments by Tucker Martine). Priester's sensuous sound is in stark contrast to Rivers's throaty, knife-edged tenor and soprano saxophones, whose harsh truths banish all sentimentality. Their interplay on "Zone" and "Mister Mayor and Mister Miser" produces sinuous, constantly surprising dialogues.

And Rivers's piano playing -- the least highly regarded of his instruments -- supplies some of the album's best moments. On "Zone" and "The New System," his empathy and quick reflexes flesh out and support Priester's improvisations, which are peppered with wide intervals, speechlike phrases, and pleasing irregularities of line. On "Heads of the People" and "Zone," Martine provides ambient electronics and ostinato patterns that are merely serviceable. His best contributions are samples of the improvisations that he feeds back into the dialogue. His sampling of Rivers's soprano on "Autumnal Influences" and flute on "Chiaroscuro" add layers of line and texture that work especially well. The two veterans keep the album, even the totally improvised tracks, tightly focused and expressive.

-- Ed Hazell