Mikkel Ploug & Mark Turner - Faroe (2018)

While tenor saxophone heavy Mark Turner has toured with guitarist Mikkel Ploug's quartet for approximately a decade, the unique musical alliance developed between this pair has never before received such a high degree of attention. With Faroe, Ploug presents thirteen original compositions written or rearranged specifically to telescope their bond(s), explore the very essence of the melodic-harmonic communion, and artfully merge the precomposed and the improvised.

Opening with the title track, a number that finds Turner's matte-finish melodies riding over Ploug's steady yet morphing streams, this duo immediately establishes a fine line between patience and passion. Then comes "Neukölln," an older composition given a new lease on life in Turner's melodic tangents and Ploug's responsive undercurrents. It's a work that shares emotional characteristics with its precursor but distinguishes itself through its urgency and a less measurable sense of momentum.