The duo of Aurora Nealand and Tom McDermott inhabit a musical world quite different from that of Ben Goldberg, but they all share several characteristics. They are comfortable in a number of different genres. They have no problem mixing those genres. They are superb composers, whether with paper and pen or on the fly. So they get to share this post. On Live at Luthjens, Nealand and McDermott cover a wide swathe of American music (and one Polish piece) in their inimitable way, and in Plague Diary, Goldberg finds a way to while away the time productively and, at times, mesmerizingly.
