GARY BURTON/STEVE SWALLOW Hotel Hello

ECM-1-1055 (1975)

Gary Burton and Steve Swallow are two musicians who need no introduction on record, so personal and immediately identifiable is their sound. Burton was one of the pioneers of jazz fusion during the seventies, and Swallow is known for being one of the first jazz bassists to use the electric bass almost exclusively. The two have worked together on a number of projects, but Hotel Hello is their only album of duets.

The album opens with "Chelsea Bells (for Hern)"; over an elegant progression of block piano chords by Swallow, Burton adds tasteful, searching ornamentation on the vibes. "Hotel Overture - Vamp" switches things around as Burton provides a propulsive organ riff for Swallow to riff over on bass. As on most of his recordings, Swallow's tone is unmistakeable, due largely to his use of a copper pick and lots of upstrokes, mainly in the upper register of his instrument (often causing his bass to sound like a guitar). This track starts off sounding like the theme to a seventies TV drama before Burton overdubs some nice vibe playing in its latter half. It proceeds without interruption into the title track, with Burton soloing over a climbing harmonic pattern on piano and bass by Swallow. "Inside In" is a brief, wah-drenched funk tune with uncredited cymbal washes, and the pretty, elegiac "Domino Biscuit" closes the first side.

Side two opens with "Vashkar", a Carla Bley composition that is the highlight of the album. Swallow plays a plaintive bass melody over Burton's shifting, ethereal organ chords, then the piece shifts into a piano-vibes-bass arrangement over the same progression. "Sweet Henry" is another upbeat, organ-and-vibe tune that, like the others on the record, needs no percussion to give it rhythmic propulsion. "Impromptu" is a dreamy improvisation for bass and vibes, and "Sweeping Up" has a lovely, slowly ascending harmonic pattern that fades the album to a close.

Hotel Hello is essential listening for fans of either artist, or for fans of ECM Records, or for fans of good music in general. It provides an intimate look and listen into the musical relationship between these longtime collaborators and friends.