Jazz Times:
reviewed by Will Smith

Larry Willis is the more widely known quantity on Alter Ego, a piano duo recording with Italian Tony Pancella, who will be new to most American listeners despite his growing reputationmthroughout Europe. Pancella studied with Willis 15 years ago in New York City before returning to his native land, and the two remained in contact, beginning their two-piano partnership in Europe during 2003.

Like many piano collaborations, the music can be delicate and lovely, and it can be intensely swinging. After opening with the title track, a James Williams tune, the keyboardists move on to “Annika’s Lullabye” and “To Wisdom, the Prize,” compositions by Willis, and “Just Wait and See” by Pancella, then settle into three standards before closing with the Miles Davis-Bill Evans classic “Blue in Green.” While the original tunes tend to be pianistically busy and dense (not quite enough space for musical breathing room), “Don’t Blame Me” and Duke Ellington’s always beautiful “Single Petal of a Rose,” in particular, and “Alone Together,” offer the relaxed openness that is needed. The bookend pieces, “Alter Ego” and “Blue in Green,” as well as “Single Petal of a Rose,” are enough to recommend this collection, but there are plenty of other moments that will bring joy to jazz piano fans.

All About Jazz:
reviewed by Donald Elfman

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=26952

Larry Willis is one of those musicians whose name should always be remembered when the subject of terrific and, alas, sometimes forgotten pianists comes up. He has been on the scene for over 40 years — from his early quartet work with Jackie McLean through time with Hugh Masekela, to a stint with Blood, Sweat and Tears and up through the years as a player in the Fort Apache Band and as a sort of ‘house pianist’ for Mapleshade Records.

Blue Fable is named after a tune that Willis wrote for the Jackie McLean album Jacknife in 1965. The number reflects a smart hipness that was certainly evident in McLean’s work, but also tells a lot about Larry Willis. It’s rich with a blues feeling and a sense of tradition, but also stays in the present with smart harmonies and deft rhythmic interplay. Above all, it sounds like a smart jazz group having fun. The horn players — alto saxophonist Joe Ford and trombonist Steve Davis — are longtime associates of Willis’ and play with funk and sass but never as showboaters, listening carefully and beautifully complementing the sterling trio (bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Billy Drummond) on four of the tunes here as well as each contributing a composition.

And a sterling trio it is. They can find the sweetness in a ballad — Willis has always made it a point of learning lyrics and Drummond and Gomez must do the same — and then a minute later, knock your socks off with something uptempo. On “Never Let Me Go” they manage the transition back and forth in the same number. Always at the center is Willis’ strong, individual voice. You can hear that in the opening seconds as the pianist puts his own stamp on Monk’s “Rhythm-A-Ning”.

Willis does a different kind of playing and listening on the beautifully recorded Mapleshade disc Alter Ego, actually led by the Italian pianist Tony Pancella. This set seems to be a hymn to the rhapsodic as two virtuosos play a handful of tunes that lend themselves to lush, melodic interplay: songs from the standard repertoire plus a few from the artists and one by the late pianist James Williams.

The tone of the session is set from the start on the Williams title tune. It flows forward in increasing beauty and if at first it’s disconcerting to not know who’s playing what, as the tune takes up momentum, it becomes clear that it’s about invention and sound and not a cutting contest. Pancella studied with Willis and so their work together here has a sense of joyous teacher/student exchange. Except that it ceases really to matter which is the student and which is the teacher — both players assume different roles at different times.

It’s when they get to the standards that these men display just how much listening they’ve done and still do, from Ellington’s “Single Petal of a Rose” to a “Don’t Blame Me” that suggests Monk as done by players with classical training. Every such connection on this lovely album bears fruit.

Tracks and Personnel

Blue Fable
Tracks: Rhythm-A-Ning; Insidious Behavior; Nardis; Blue Fable; Never Let Me Go; Landscape; Who's Kidding Who; Prayer for New Orleans.
Personnel: Larry Willis: piano; Joe Ford: alto saxophone (2,4,6,8); Steve Davis: trombone (2,4,6,8); Eddie Gomez: bass; Billy Drummond: drums.

Alter Ego
Tracks: Alter Ego; Annika's Lullabye; To Wisdom, the Prize; Just Wait and See; Don't Blame Me; Single Petal of a Rose; Alone Together; Blue in Green.
Personnel: Tony Pancella and Larry Willis: piano.

Jazz Review:
reviewed by Brenton Plourde

Two pianos, one vision. Tony Pancella and Larry Willis have released a duo album titled Alter Ego and with their flow and beautiful lines, it is hard sometimes to see when they do alter, and that's what makes this album superb.

Dipping into the Miles Davis catalogue for "Blue in Green," Pancella and Willis are almost two Bill Evanses playing together with a touch of Wynton Kelly.

The Willis-penned "To Wisdom, The Prize" is seven minutes of great counter play between the two. No one here takes the lead and now on here just follows. With duo albums it is sometimes clear who leads and who follows.

Duke Ellington's "Single Petal of a Rose" is not played in the Ellington standard. While Ellington could have played this with a flair of swing or stride, Willis and Pancella give it their own rendition. If The Duke were alive today and had a chance to hear this version, I am assuming he would be fully appreciative and give his blessing.

The real core strength of this album is the Pancella and Willis-penned songs. From "Just Wait and See" to "Annika's Lullabye," this duo is spot on. They do a wonderful version of "Alone Together" and for that, they really are and it could be possibly the best way.

MUSICA JAZZ:
reviewed by Antonio Jammarino
January 2008

It’s quite a complicated task in a piano-duet setting to find the right balace, to avoid sound and harmonic redundancies, and to make the interpretations rhythmically fluent without losing spontaneity and energy. Even the most famous piano legends struggled to express themselves in this context. Pancella and Willis (former student and teacher) brilliantly overcome this challenge because of their shared ability to listen and compliment to one another.

The music flows beautifully, whether swinging or intimate, without ever lapsing into the overabundance so typical on piano duos. Here, the two pianists seamlessly interchange the roles of soloist and accompanist, achieving a singular musical breath that never loses sight of artistry.

Their repertoire (some standards, some originals) is engaging from start to finish: highlights include a delicious rendition of Don’t Blame Me, unusually played in C sharp, and Willis’ Annika’s Lullaby.

The pianist from Chieti has created powerfully duets with this American piano master.