Released

There’s a fair amount of overlap between British keyboardist Greg Foat and Italian keyboardist Gigi Masin. Both favor space-via-electronics and sparse piano accompaniment where necessary, though Foat generally works in collaborative jazz settings, while Masin is known for his cherished ambient ’80s solo albums and one-off drifts like Gaussian Curve. On paper, a collaboration might not seem to make much sense beyond such mutual admiration, yet Dolphin finds both keyboardists floating amicably alongside one another in serene waters.

And such water metaphors are hard to avoid with an ambient album that favors ebbs and drifts. Little rivulets (like the brief interludes of “Dolphin” and “Leo Theo”) and more jazzy numbers (“Viento Calido”) widen into great ambient expanses (as on the exquisite “Sabena”). The glissades and rippling effects of both gentlemen and their melodic wanderings remain hypnotizing throughout, flowing over all.

Andy Beta

Suggestions
SUKISTAN cover

SUKISTAN

EMÆNUEL
Mess cover

Mess

Fila Brazillia
Soul Village cover

Soul Village

Walter Bishop Jr.
Angel Tears in Sunlight cover

Angel Tears in Sunlight

Pauline Anna Strom
The Isle cover

The Isle

Wechsel Garland, World Standard
Comme Au Moulin cover

Comme Au Moulin

Nyssa Musique
The Statement cover

The Statement

Kirk DeGiorgio
Fresh Bread cover

Fresh Bread

Sam Gendel
Coral cover

Coral

Olof Dreijer