Ethan Iverson set up this session to explore the legacy and influence of pianist/composer/iconoclast Lennie Tristano with the hands-on assistance of Tristano’s star pupil, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz. The set opens and closes with an open-minded Ethan Iverson blues – takes one and two of the title track – dips into the American songbook and strings together a quartet of short Iverson originals that range from accurate Tristano pastiche to the contemporary leftfield. Star-turn double bassist Larry Grenadier has the fat sound and metronomic pulse that Tristano so favoured, and Rossy is appropriately understated on drums. Konitz, though, has moved on, and has distilled his investigations of standard chord sequences to the point of abstraction. And, Iverson’s informative sleeve tells us, the saxophonist likes his pianists to interact freely behind his sparse, spine-chilling lines – now in his mid-80s, the icy tone is a bit quavery at the edges, but not to the point of distraction. The result is a thoroughly stimulating dialogue between Konitz’s grasp of melodic essence and Iverson’s spacious probings on piano. ‘Try a Little Tenderness’ is pure Konitz – not sure about his vocal on ‘Don’t Blame Me’ though – and Iverson combines Tristano’s fluency with Monk’s sense of space to make ‘Blueberry Hill’ a trio highlight.