Firm Roots Duo - Firm Roots (2021)

When pianists Chris White and Lara Driscoll perform as the Firm Roots Duo, they draw on lines of communication that are almost unknowably deep. They’ve developed that bond as spouses, of course, but also as fine independent artists with voices of their own. Based in the Chicago area, they first met as students of pianist John “Chip” Stephens at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. And ever since, they’ve set aside space in their busy respective careers to hone and formalize a concept now documented on Firm Roots, their extraordinary duo debut.

Named for the ebullient Cedar Walton composition “Firm Roots,” which serves here as the leadoff track (it was also the recessional at their wedding), White and Driscoll state in their liner notes: “Roots are often unseen, but their resilience and determination to stabilize the tree above makes them quietly powerful and humbly significant. It is therefore only fitting that Firm Roots is both our title track and the name of our duo. It is, in fact, our mission statement.”

Finding a studio with not one but two superior pianos can be tricky, but White and Driscoll have the good fortune of living close to the Grand Piano Haus showroom. It was in that live and resonant environment that they recorded, on two premium Bösendorfers, with engineer Brian Schwab tucked away in a supply closet as the control room, bringing their crisp and refined duo sound to life. On “Firm Roots” we hear White in the right channel, stating the melody the first time through in octaves; on the remaining tracks, it’s Driscoll on the right, White on the left.

“We knew that the recording would have more depth if we worked as though we were actually a band,” says Driscoll. What we hear, therefore, is less a blowing session than a beautifully arranged musical journey, rich in orchestration, textural detail and counterpoint, with big bass frequencies and vibrant rhythms, all woven together with a bluesy and lyrical melodic sense.

In addition to Walton’s rousing postbop anthem, the duo renders Horace Silver’s iconic “Song for My Father” with intriguing reharmonization, “a mellow neo-soul vibe and syncopated hits,” they write. At the heart of their interpretive license is a love for these modern jazz masters and the legacy of greatness they represent. Ann Ronell’s perennial groover “Willow Weep for Me” also gives White and Driscoll ample space to call and respond in fine swinging form, deeply conversant in the tradition. Here they cite Hank Jones and Art Tatum as harmonic role models.

Along with its strong rhythmic pocket, the Firm Roots Duo has a magical way of playing rubato, out of tempo, particularly compelling on the intro of the classic 1986 Bacharach hit “That’s What Friends Are For.” “I really gravitate toward rubato playing, things like intros and interludes,” Driscoll says, “and Chris does also because he’s played a lot of vocal accompaniment, so he’s great at following and being a team player.” White adds: “You can be really orchestral when you’re playing rubato, using the full range of the instrument and feeling less limited. You go at your pace.” The graceful waltz “I.P.T.” — the duo’s first original piece, performed together at their wedding reception — begins with transcendent rubato as well, as does “Tu M’as Convaincu” (“you convinced me”).

White and Driscoll not only play together far and wide — recently in Boston, Japan and Thailand — but they also write together. The co-composed songs on Firm Roots, which also include “One Foot First,” “Jalophony” and the elegant “Sábado de Mañha,” bespeak a collaborative process of careful listening, give-and-take and interwoven inspiration. They reflect a growing store of shared life experiences, from transformative or comical travels to serene moments spent together at home. In its way, as White and Driscoll state in the notes, the music of Firm Roots can serve to “remind us of what is most important: family, health, and interconnectedness.”