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Is There Really Only One Guitar And Drums Duo Album in Jazz History?

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By Ian Patterson
January 12, 2024
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A veritable mountain of duo albums color jazz history. Vocal and piano duos abound. Think

Ella Fitzgerald

vocals
1917 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Ella Fitzgerald and

Ellis Larkins

piano
1923 - 2002

" data-original-title="" title="">Ellis Larkins,

Tony Bennett

vocals
1926 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Tony Bennett and

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans, or

Carmen McRae

vocals
1920 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Carmen McRae and

George Shearing

piano
1919 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">George Shearing for starters.

Guitar and piano duos? Plenty of those too.

Jim Hall

guitar
1930 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Jim Hall and

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans,

Oscar Peterson

piano
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Oscar Peterson and

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Pass spring to mind.

Vocals and guitar? Check. Vibraphone and piano? Check. Name a duo combo—trombone and saxophone, piano and harp, trombone and saxophone, drums and piano, drums and saxophone, two pianos, two guitars—and it has been done. Just about every conceivable combination of instruments in jazz has teamed up at some point to record as a duo.

With one notable exception. Guitar and drums.

Could it be that in the century-plus of jazz history there was not one single album of guitar and drums in purely duo harness until 2023, when Irish drummer

David Lyttle

drums
b.1984

" data-original-title="" title="">David Lyttle and English guitarist

Phil Robson

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">Phil Robson released the standards-inspired IN2 (Lyte Records)?

Why is the guitar 'n' drums combo so rare in recorded jazz history? Is there a single other example out there? Maybe you can put the record straight. If you know of any other drum-and-guitar jazz duo albums, please let us know.

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