ECM Guitarist Bill Frisell has made dozens of recordings in every conceivable configuration, and 2017 found him going one-on-one with the double bassist Thomas Morgan, whose credits, like Frisell’s, include music made with the late drummer Paul Motian, as well as collaborations with such modern jazz virtuosi as the late trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, pianist Craig Taborn and Danish guitarist Jakob Bro. Frisell and Morgan proved on their earlier meeting, Small Town , to have a special affinity for each other, and that rapport is rekindled on this new live duo set. Part of the magic of any Frisell outing is discovering how the element of surprise plays out and, here, it’s in the playlist, which runs the gamut from the cowboy standard “Red River Valley” to Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” to the James Bond theme “You Only Live Twice.” (The last one had “Goldfinger.”) Of course, there is also the Thelonious Monk-penned title track, presented here with all of the cat-andmouse interplay intended by the composer intact. A second Monk tune, “Pannonica,” unfolds with a hush that never quite lifts—a classic example of Frisell’s predilection for music that makes its grandest statements while defining minimalism. “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” most closely associated with Frank Sinatra, is absolutely lovely. The two players making the song’s core melody the sole focus of their interpretation, yet still managing to put their own stamp on it. And you’ve just got to hear how the two segue from the folk staple “Wildwood Flower” into the Drifters’ R&B hit “Save the Last Dance for Me.” That’s the definition of ingenuity.