By coincidence, this new recording of Blake appears almost simultaneously with the archive material of his duo with Jeanne Lee (see last month’s Short Cuts/ Reissues). The distinguished pianist-educator is clearly still full of invention and exploration, while remaining eminently recognisable. However, it’s pianist Claire Ritter who’s the engine behind this issue and the concert that gave birth to it, held in her hometown of Charlotte (North Carolina) where she returned after a career that included studying with Blake in the 1980s. These excerpts consist of 20 short but complete performances, including some piano duets, as well as five Blake solos and five duos of Ritter with Australian tenorman O’Doherty. The latter create variety and, while Ritter herself is perhaps more conventional and less rhythmically dynamic than Blake, there is a unified feeling of adventure and togetherness about the enterprise, the majority of material being original with fellow North Carolinian pianist Monk being acknowledged by two of his tunes.