Lage Lund and Sullivan Fortner at Mezzrow: An Odd Couple of Jazz

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The Norwegian guitarist Lage Lund and the New Orleanian pianist Sullivan Fortner may seem like a misfit pair. Mr. Lund’s playing is hunkered and cleanly stated; Mr. Fortner has a sprightly and additive sensibility. But they’ve worked together here and there, and the terrain between their styles proves fertile.

Mr. Fortner, a member of Roy Hargrove’s quintet, played a ravishing set of gospel standards earlier this month at Le Poisson Rouge, singing and accompanying himself with radiant, chiming solo piano work. Mr. Lund is typically seen leading his own bands; he does some prestige sideman engagements, but he’s not one of your ubiquitous guitar players. He can seem to be weaving in and out of direct contact with his accompanists, building small phrases that at first sound self-contained, then give way to a pattern of motivic development.

On Sunday, Aug. 27, and Monday Mr. Lund and Mr. Fortner perform in duet a second time, at Mezzrow, a basement club in Greenwich Village, with sets at 8 and 9:30 p.m. (mezzrow.com)

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