Rudresh Mahanthappa

Members of the much remembered classic quartet of Anthony Braxton and bandleaders in their own right, Mark Dresser and Gerry Hemingway are the first names we consider when asked to mention the best improvisers on their respective instruments, the double bass and the drum kit.

Two Rivers is jazz master Amir ElSaffar's debut album as a leader; he is a well-seasoned musician in both the jazz world and the classical one. He has performed as a member of pianist Vijay Iyer's celebrated group, and with Cecil Taylor's, he has also played on the front line with the brilliant -- if less widely known -- alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa's group (who returns the favor here).

Sad to say, these things (piano/sax duos) often don't work. One thinks of, e.g., the famous Shorter/Hancock flop, 1 + 1; or, again, the Lovano/Rubalcaba disappointment, Flying Colors. The first is too cerebral, the second too meanderingly boppish.