On the surface, Two at the Most, the first dual album by NYC steeped jazz veterans, vocalist Tatiana Eva-Marie and pianist Jeremy Corren, seems like a simple and intimate, exquisitely arranged and performed set of mostly famous and a few obscure standards, from the bluesy and tenderly melancholy opener “The End of a Love Affair” through a thoughtfully soulful stroll through “Sophisticated Lady,” with extra charming vocal color provided by her friend, classics professor and music aficionado Mark Buchan, on “They’ll Never Believe Me” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”
It’s a sweet and warm musical experience, almost like spending a cozy night listening to old friends sharing their hearts and baring their souls through the music and lyrics of legends, either in your living room or an after-hours piano bar. Tatiana sweetens the experience for everyone by tenderly sharing the little heard opening verse of “Fly Me to the Moon,” which explains the writer’s desire to express love despite not being a natural poet.
While listeners can certainly enjoy Two at the Most as a romantic candlelit musical experience only, the deeply emotional backstory of heartbreak and triumph – told eloquently in the extensive liner notes by Jeremy’s friend Graham Jacobson - that shed illuminate the extraordinariness of what this album says about the tight-knit NYC jazz community and how it survived the pandemic era.
Suffice to say, this is a project that requires the purchase of a CD (rather than just streaming) to truly immerse in the full experience. The Swiss born Tatiana may be best known for her internationally popular band Avalon (which has 340,000+ YouTube channel subscribers), but her unique friendship with Jeremy has given us an even brighter window to her truest jazzy heart.