Mary Flower and Leon Cotter blend fingerstyle guitar, clarinet and saxophone on Chants Of Rain, an all-acoustic collection rooted in blues, jazz and ragtime.
Sometimes a great musical partnership begins in the unlikeliest of places. For fingerstyle guitarist Mary Flower and reed player Leon Cotter, it started on an airplane, where Cotter recognized Flower and struck up a conversation about music. A few chance encounters later, including crossing paths at Portland’s Montavilla Jazz Festival and a backyard fundraiser, the two decided to play together. The chemistry was immediate, and now it’s captured on their first album as a duo, Chants Of Rain.
Flower has spent decades establishing herself as one of acoustic roots music’s most accomplished fingerpickers, drawing from Piedmont blues, ragtime, early jazz and folk traditions. Cotter brings a different musical background to the partnership. Best known as a clarinetist and saxophonist with the California Honeydrops, he has toured internationally and shared stages with artists including Bonnie Raitt, Del McCoury and Charlie Hunter.
On Chants Of Rain, those two musical worlds meet with remarkably little fuss. The self-produced, all-acoustic collection features 11 original instrumentals, six written or co-written by Flower and five by Cotter. With no rhythm section to lean on, Flower’s intricate guitar work and Cotter’s clarinet and saxophone carry the conversation, moving naturally through blues, jazz, ragtime and old-time New Orleans influences.
The playful “Mary’s Rag” opens the album with Flower’s nimble fingerpicking wrapped around Cotter’s clarinet, while “Dauphine” swings toward New Orleans jazz. “Trip Around The Sun” gives Flower room to stretch out, the title track slowly gathers intensity, and “Eagle Creek Bounce” brings an easy rhythmic lift. Elsewhere, “Farewell Waltz” turns reflective before “Wisecrack” sends the album out with Flower’s guitar leading the way.
What makes Chants Of Rain work is the space between the notes. Flower and Cotter listen to one another, trade ideas and leave plenty of room for each instrument to answer the other. It’s the sound of two musicians from different generations and backgrounds discovering a common language, one conversation at a time.