Jack Wilkins

TIM CUMMISKEY plays lovingly on
KINDRED (Cummiskey 2123), his dual guitar
album with JACK WILKINS. The two breeze with
sprightliness through ten standards, with
Cummiskey typically taking the lead and Wilkins
injecting spirit as the rhythm guitarist (Like
Someone in Love/ All the Things You Are/ Afro
Blue/ Caminhos Cruzados/ Outhouse/ Old Folks/
Estate/ The Oracle/ Loud-Zee/ Body and Soul.
69:49, 5/24,25/05, Cambridge, MA). Three of the
cuts are straight duets, while bassist Andy
Woodson and drummer Jim Rupp join them on the
others. The guitarists interact neatly as a team;
Cummiskey skates delicately through the melodies
and into the improvised changes, and Wilkins
sews in counter rhythms to make the songs dance
with delight. No lyrical guitar album would be complete
without a samba by Antonio Carlos Jobim,
and the guitarists tenderly massage his one contribution.
Similarly, the gorgeous Bruno Martino
piece “Estaté” gets kid glove treatment by the two.
The band stretches out on Dave Holland’s “The
Oracle” with extended improvising but always
maintains the essence of melodic beauty that pervades
this session.