Nils Winther had heard Bley in duo with NHØP at the Montmartre and wanted to capture the pairing on tape. When Bley passed through Copenhagen en route to Oslo in the summer of 1973, Winther seized the moment. The result was Bley's first of nineteen SteepleChase albums - and a document of two musicians meeting as equals. By then Bley had played with Art Blakey, Mingus, and Parker; led a quintet whose other members would form Ornette Coleman's first band; and spent pivotal years in the Jimmy Giuffre Trio. NHØP, the Danish bass phenomenon, had grown from a technically gifted teenager at the Montmartre into the label's house bassist on more than thirty sessions, his deep tone and rhythmic flexibility sought by visiting Americans from Bud Powell to Baker to Gordon. Specially for this 180g audiophile vinyl version Neil Tesser penned a perceptive and insightful liner notes which makes a great read. Remastered from the original tapes. Pressed on 180g vinyl. 'Another excellent album from the never less than stimulating Mr. Bley... ' (Melody Maker) '(NHØP) complements Bley's haunting chords perfectly... The piano is appropriately well recorded and the bass is well forward... ' (The Penguin Guide to Jazz)
