These two are old hands at this. Ever since they met at Leeds School of Music four decades ago, Barnes and Newton have worked together, recorded together and toured together, each taking time out for other projects and associations but always returning like homing pigeons to the safe haven of their musical friendship. This latest chapter in their joint history is a bare-bones affair, quite a test for any pair of players, the challenge being to maintain interest given the paucity of back-up or support. Barnes has it solved with the array of instruments he offers: alto on ‘I Won't Dance', limpid clarinet on Bonfa's ‘The Gentle Rain’ or soft-sounding baritone on his own rather fetching original ‘The Sun, The Sea, The Stars and Me’, with Newton finding the most apposite of commentaries. Perhaps reflecting their maturity and the degree of relaxation evident throughout the date, there are no hell-raising, go-for-broke tear ups on the album, rather a series of neatly wrought explorations of some fine tunes, often harmonically canny, these two men clearly at ease with each other, yet mutually dependent. Their take on ‘The Mooche’, AB sinuous on clarinet, DN striding, is a peach.