pno duo and Mike Romaniak: "Hold Your Breath"

Four hands, one piano. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Not Exactly. The pno duo, consisting of Trevor Hewer and Rosano Coutinho, are at the forefront of the free jazz movement (if you couldn’t tell from our previous posts, we here at The Canadian Jazz Review love free jazz). Perhaps a little explanation of what these guys are all about is needed. The pno duo was created as an attempt to escape from musical norms, and to cross as many musical boundary’s as possible by way of the piano and improvisation. However these guys take improv to the next level…All of their songs are composed and played spontaneously without any discussions about musical direction beforehand. We know…we thought it was pretty cool too. Their most recent release, “Hold Your Breath”, is collaboration between this spectacular duo, and Mike Romaniak, who adds to the already unique sound with the alto sax and sopilkas (Ukrainian woodwind instruments in the flute family). The record is made up of three compositions, “Testing the Waters”, “Passing Tides”, and “Reflections”. Each piece takes you down a different musical road, allowing the listener to experience various themes and styles offered in both the classical and jazz idioms, through various movements. While Hewer and Coutinho have an unspoken chemistry, Romaniak, rather un-sheepishly, perfectly places himself in the musical blend, even adding in percussion on “Reflections”. We can only imagine how badly you all are yearning to listen to this album right now. Well we have some good news…”Hold Your Breath” has been generously donated by the ensemble, so a free download is available below! Check it out, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Take a listen to the album bellow!

pno duo