Barry Harirson and Kenny Barron, live at Riverside Park Arts Festival, New York City

One of the eagerly anticipated features of the annual Riverside Park Arts Festival in New York each September is the piano set featuring a pair of keyboard players in tandem. One of these partnerships, between Kenny Barron and John Hicks is already available on Candid (Rhythm-a-ning, CCD 79044) which documented a wonderful session from the 1989 festival. Two years on and Kenny Barron as back at he same location, only this time with different companions. The second pianist was that doyen of bebop Barry Harrison, and the pulse setters were Roy Drummond (bass) and Ben Riley (drums).

Their instinctive rapport, enables these musicians to tune in to the same through bank wand withdraw a complementary bundle of ideas. It's called instant communication, but that phrase belies the decades of application, listening, learning and working. Still, when it comes off so beautifully and intricately, as in this session, there remains a mysterious magical fact, which is always present in the finest moments of human activity.