Gary Peacock & Bill Frisell - Just So Happens (1994)

01.Only Now
02.In Walked Po
03.Wapitis Dream
04.Home on the Range, No. 1 Traditional
05.Home on the Range, No. 2 Traditional
06.Through a Skylight
07.Red River Valley Traditional
08.Reciprocity
09.Good Morning Heartache
10.N.O.M.B.
11.Just So Happens.

Review by David R. Adler
Gary Peacock's duo album with Bill Frisell is rewarding, though a bit repetitive. Most interesting is the sonic contrast between Peacock's imposing upright bass and Frisell's quirky electric guitar. After eight tracks, however, the appearance of Frisell's acoustic guitar — on the standard "Good Morning, Heartache" — comes as a welcome change. Most of the pieces are free improvisations, and while they all have their moments, some wind up treading water. "In Walked Po," an oblique take on the blues, is an exception. "Reciprocity" and "N.O.M.B." are the only originals credited solely to Peacock, leading one to believe they were written before the session. Perhaps not surprisingly, these two tracks are the most coherent on the record. The duo also plays two versions of "Home on the Range" (one would have sufficed), and Peacock renders "Red River Valley" as an unaccompanied solo. For Frisell, at least, this could have been a sign of things soon to come: His Nashville album was released about a year later.

Gary Peacock - Tales Of Another (1977)

1.Vignette 7:03
2.Tone Field 7:56
3.Major Major 8:58
4.Trilogy I 8:32
5.Trilogy II 9:42
6.Trilogy III 6:20

GARY PEACOCK- bass
KEITH JARRETT- piano
JACK DEJOHNETTE- drums.

The bassist calls on pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette for his greatest album as leader. It is the same lineup as the obviously more-vaunted Jarrett standards trio, and this recording lacks nothing of the Jarrett-led albums. It works, not due to the great pianist's presence alone, but because Peacock is a strong writer of atmospheric pieces that seem to hark to natural forces--the wind and the rain. ECM has characteristically opted for a lush sound. Peacock's enveloping bass sound sings in a yearning, elevated voice. He has drawn from the direct lyricism of Bill Evans. His own sound and compositions are, however, even more introspect and otherworldly, thanks in part to Peacock's judicious use of elements from the avant-garde, in which he often worked. --Peter Monaghan.