Steely Dan sidemen pianist Jim Beard and guitarist Jon Herington join forces on intimate duet album, 'Chunks and Chairknobs'. <p>A unique piano-guitar project that organically blends their mutual interest in rock, pop, bossa, blues and jazz while also acknowledging their longstanding gig as sidemen in the game-changing band Steely Dan, this intimate encounter finds the two kindred spirits divvying up duties on eight tunes, easily alternating roles, comping supportively for each other while delivering melodic gems and brilliant solos along the way. <p>From the jaunty title track, colored by Beard's New Orleans flavored barrelhouse piano to Herington's thoughtfully introspective "Double Blind" and Beard's soothing "Hand to Hand" to fresh interpretations of Bill Evans' "Loose Blues," the standard "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," the show tune "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and the popular Steely Dan anthem, "Gaucho," the two longtime collaborators put their own unique spin on the proceedings. A thoroughly engaging project, Chunks and Chairknobs is the result of what happens when two seasoned pros with longstanding, indelible chemistry get together in the studio to create. Magic ensues.
