Patrick Moraz and Bill Bruford: Flags

A second jazz duo to follow Lawson & Travis. This was Moraz & Bruford's second stab at collaboration, and I bought it when it came out because I liked the first. But instead of developing a tighter relationship, this turned out to be a step back.

I listened to their two albums back to back last year while reading Bruford's autobiography. Where the does-what-it-says-on-the-tin approach of Music for Piano and Drums was rewardingly straightforward, this follow-up adds synth keyboards, synth percussion and much more dense arrangements. And it feels less focused, more stodgy as a result.

To be fair, the worst parts are the tunes written by Moraz only, which sound like the syrupy soppy side of Vangelis, only with the opposite of the latter's leaden-footed drums. Then again, my favourite track is probably the cover of Max Roach's The Drum Also Waltzes, which is just Bruford on his own (I think). The co-compositions are kind of in-between.

There was no third Moraz & Bruford album after this. Tellingly, neither album is even mentioned in Bruford's book.

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