Charles Rouse came to the fore as the tenor saxophonist with Thelonious Monk from 1959-69. He recorded ‘Two Is One’ for the Strata East label in 1974, his first as a leader since his only album on Blue Note from 1963. The first side comprises three funky jazz tracks, the strongest of which is a version of Joe Chambers ‘Hopscotch’. This track has a strong driving funky rhythm from David Lee on drums, Airto on percussion and Stanley Clarke on bass with Paul Metzke on guitar and Charles blowing over the top to create one of the NY label’s finest tracks. Guitarist George Davis wrote both ‘Bitchin’ and ‘In A Funky way’ which are more blues-based funky jazz outings. The second side has two long more abstract tracks, ‘Two Is One’ is played in three different tempos whilst ‘In His Presence Searching’ is more spiritual and free.
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