Modern Music

Pianists Brad Mehldau and Kevin Hays have not only been friends since they arrived on the New York jazz scene in the late ’80s, they’ve also long shared more wide-ranging musical interests. Here they join forces to explore those overlapping concerns. With arrangements crafted by saxophonist Patrick Zimmerli, they play intricate, highly interactive duets with classical rigor, traversing a modern minimalist jewel by Steve Reich (an excerpt from *Music for 18 Musicians*), Ornette Coleman’s aching ballad “Lonely Woman,” and pensive originals by each participant.