The art of the jazz duo - playing alone together

Howard Alden

Guitarist Howard Alden and pianist Lenore Raphael blended their considerable talents Friday night in a South County Jazz Club concert that concluded its 2013-14 season segment at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center in Sarasota.

The New York-based players dug deeply into Great American Songbook standards, and a gritty take on Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia On My Mind," before concluding their 90-minute performance with a Raphael original. The latter was her Oscar Peterson tribute, "Blues for O.P."



Lenore Raphael

The evening underscored the players musical simpatico, their counterpoint in supporting each other's solos, and Alden's mastery of the seven-string guitar. Their take on "Alone Together" had several Bach-ish moments as both players blended their classical chops into the jazz piece without missing a beat.

The pair conclude their four-city Florida swing next Wednesday (April 9) when the Gold Coast Jazz Society presents a Tribute to Oscar Peterson concert at the Broward Center for the Arts in Fort Lauderdale. They will have company on stage that evening with bassist Chuck Bergeron and drummer Roger King Jr.

Lenore Raphael and Howard Alden