If the Tommy Smith and Brian Kellock duo, reviewed elsewhere in this magazine (page 43), appear as exemplary exponents of an established jazz tradition, then the Baldych and Herman duo, two younger men, indeed emerge as exemplary exponents of a newer tradition with their willingness to take the music in fresh directions reflecting diverse lines of input. As Baldych explains, “Tradition is my point of reference. Who am I? Where do I come from? Where do I go? Classical music, Polish folk music, Polish jazz – this is my tradition, this is what surrounded my formative years and this is what my music refers to.” Thus the music of Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) and Thomas Tallis rub shoulders with compositions by Polish jazzmen Krzysztof Komeda and Zbigniew Seifert, plus five originals by Baldych. Yet despite the apparent diversity of this music, Baldych and Herman place their own distinctive imprint on it to create an extraordinarily detailed, coherent yet nuanced listening experience that captures the listener's attention in a way that music of grander gesture often fails to do. Herman always seems to show greater focus when working with others than he does on his own projects, where depth has not yet replaced the flash of his remarkable technique, which he understandably wants to display. Baldych emerges as the eternal storyteller – nothing he plays is without interest but more especially he has a melodic profundity of a kind that often seems to be becoming lost in jazz.