"Canadian guitarist Bill Coon has teamed up with guitarist Ron Peters in their latest release, entitled No Boundaries. The majority of the album is a guitar duet with bassist Jodi Proznick playing on a few tracks. Bill Coon is one of Canada's great treasures, a master improviser on the guitar, currently living in Vancouver, BC., He is a Juno nominated guitarist/arranger/composer who has performed with many of the great musicians of our time, including Chuck Israels, Jimmy Heath, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Ron Peters is also a great jazz guitarist and currently lives south of the Canadian border in Washington State. In addition to working in the internationally acclaimed Seattle- based Gypsy group Pearl Django, Peters has performed with the Manhattan Transfer, and the Don Ellis Group, among others.

     No Boundaries imparts a feeling of intimacy by playing music within the context of duo and trio settings. Their ability to listen to one another is obvious from the fist few seconds of the CD with their rendition of the standard There is No Greater Love. The song starts off with a contrapuntal weaving of guitar lines through the harmonic progression of the song for one chorus before the melody is started. Both guitarists are able to communicate musically with the other, feeding off one another's ideas, and playing with unrestrained imagination. This is reminiscent of the beautiful interaction created on the Bill Evans/Jim Hall duo albums recorded in the 1960's. This level of intimacy and creativity continues throughout the album.

     The music on the CD features a wide variety of styles of music, featuring straight -ahead swing songs, ballads, Brazilian music, blues, and original compositions. The CD features a great selection of standards including Footprints, Bernie's Tune, Stairway To The Stars, Yesterdays, Emily, and How Insensitive. The solos created by Coon and Peters on this album are sensitive and melodic. The record concludes with a composition that pays tribute to Jim Hall, titled Mr. Hall. It is obvious that both of these talented guitarists are heavily influenced by Hall's melodic, playful, and compositional approach to improvisation. No Boundaries is a delight to listen to."

Brandon Bernstein Just Jazz Guitar