About this project

When I conceived the Two-O-Duo project, I wanted to create something that captured the true spirit of jazz collaboration—not just musicians playing together, but artists choosing and creating music specifically for each other. My son Gerald, who has become one of the great pianists of his generation with his own distinctive voice, brings a harmonic curiosity and artistic exploration that continually amazes me. René Marie, the fearless vocalist and composer who started her professional career at 42, represents everything I admire about artists who serve the music first with her truth-telling original songs. Each of us selected pieces and created interpretations with the others specifically in mind.

The beautiful thing about this project is how it represents jazz as it should be: deeply personal, generous, and exploratory. We're three artists at different stages of our careers—Gerald is establishing himself as a major voice in contemporary jazz, and René brings her unique blend of jazz, folk, and R&B with an uncompromising commitment to honest songwriting. But when we come together, it's not about our individual achievements—it's about creating something that could only exist through this specific collaboration. The fact that we also recorded a track with all three of us together felt like the natural culmination of this musical conversation.

This is music that serves the art form first, created by people who understand that the spirit of jazz is always freedom, always looking ahead while honoring the profound traditions that came before us. The Two-O-Duo project (get it?) is our invitation for listeners to experience the intimacy and generosity that happens when musicians truly listen to each other and create something beautiful together.

I hope you will join us.