Looking into a mirror, one can see a reflection. Holding a mirror up to a mirror, one can see not only one reflection but a series of reflections. Kasumi, a chamber-jazz album from pianist Aki Takase and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, is a lot like that—the compositions form a series of reflections, in this case highlighted by top-drawer abstract music.
Modernism pervades the compositions —five by Takase, three by Laubrock, and four written jointly. Each piece has its own personality but, like layers laid one on top of another, they form a whole that is bolstered by the technical virtuosity of the duo. [...]