So that kind of puts us in a completely different place. Those tunes are not jazz tunes like what Jim Hall and Bill Evans would’ve played.
By the same token, we also knew that we’re not really players like that, and that’s mostly evident in the original tunes that we put on the record. I know both of them intimately and they’re both just fantastic. “We were fully aware of how great those two records are. “Bill Evans-Jim Hall is my favorite example of that piano-guitar genre,” Herington agreed. While the ultimate role model for guitar-piano duets would have to be Jim Hall and Bill Evans (check out 1962’s UNDERCURRENT and 1966’s INTERMODULATIONS), Beard and Herington avoid comparisons by taking a decidedly different path on CHUNKS AND CHAIRKNOBS. “And because the role of each instrument is similar, it kind of presents a real problem - Who’s going to play the bass part? Who’s going to keep time? So we had to hunt for different tunes and figure out what we could do to them to make them work. “It’s two instruments that do not necessarily cooperate too well,” added Herington. So it did take a little bit of think-time to figure out what would be best.” Because the two instruments are so similar in the way they function and behave in a group, particularly the chordal aspect of it. It’s so much different than if it were piano and bass or guitar and bass, piano and saxophone or guitar and saxophone. “We did have to think about who could do what where, because it’s not the most natural duo instrumentation. “Not all of that happened right away spontaneously,” Beard pointed out. And though guitar and piano are not generally regarded as ideal mates in a duo setting, the two kindred spirits found a way to seamlessly blend in the studio, divvying up duties on eight tunes, easily alternating roles, comping for each other while delivering melodic gems and brilliant solos along the way. But they were also basking in the after-glow of having recently recorded this superb duet album.
“Not only that, we’ve been sharing a studio ever since we got to New York, which is probably since 1987.”Īt the time of this writing, Beard and Herington had just come off a three week residency with Steely Dan at the Venetian in Las Vegas, so their Dan chops were polished to a bright sheen. “There are many, many records and gigs and times of our lives,” said Herington, reflecting back on their musical partnership. And they’ve shared the bandstand on tour with Steely Dan for the past several years - 20 for Herington, 11 for Beard. They’ve worked together as sidemen on recordings by bassist Victor Bailey, saxophonists Bill Evans and Bob Berg, drummer Dennis Chambers and brothers Michael and Randy Brecker. They’ve shared countless hours in the studio over the years playing on each other’s albums, beginning with Beard’s 1990 debut SONG OF THE SUN and continuing through to Herington’s 2016 album ADULT ENTERTAINMENT. It’s only natural that pianist Jim Beard and guitarist Jon Herington would strike the kind of special accord heard throughout this intimate duo encounter. presents JIM BEARD & JON HERINGTON (STEELY DAN)
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