Tuck and Patti Thrive on Pressure
Symbiosis Means Success for Jazz Duo

 Listen to Lynn Neary's conversation with the jazz duo in NPR's studio 4A.

Tuck and Patti perform in NPR's Studio 4A

From Chocolate Moment "Chocolate Moment" "Love Flows Like a River" From Learning How to Fly "Learning How to Fly" "Woodstock" Live in NPR's Studio 4A "Up and at It" "Being in Love"

June 23, 2002 -- What makes the jazz duo Tuck and Patti tick? To some degree, it's pressure. Patti, the singer, demands things of Tuck, the guitar player, that Tuck insists are not humanly possible. But he does them anyway, and it usually works out just right.

"All these wonderful textures and combinations of things that never would have occurred to me," says Tuck. "As I listen to the before and the after of the music, I'm always knocked out by how great Patti's decisions are."

As the duo's songwriter, Patti has her own pressures to deal with, though those are offset some by the nature of their longstanding partnership (married 20 years; making music even longer). Patti Cathcart does not need to write out music because the duo has developed a kind of shorthand that they both understand. As a result, Tuck Andress says, "I've grown enormously as a player."

As the pair told Lynn Neary for Weekend Edition Sunday, they met in 1978, when Patti auditioned for Tuck's band. Tuck immediately knew that he had found his musical soulmate, and Patti felt the same. She decided that the band wasn't for her, but she starting scheming to steal their guitarist.

After a month, they were best friends, but the relationship didn't become romantic for another year and a half. Patti says that the adage is right: "It's better to be with your best friend."

The duo performs original songs, written by Patti, as well as interpretations of standards and pop hits. They select only songs that they both "love, completely love," says Patti.

The new CD, Chocolate Moment is their second all-original collection (the other was 2000's Taking The Long Way Home). On the new one, "we explore different material," with more of a country feel, Patti says. The songs are chosen from among the "story-telling, anthem songs," she has recently been writing.



Other Resources

Tuck and Patti's Web site.

Browse the NPR Jazz Web site -- NPRJazz.org.

A profile and discography of Tuck and Patti.

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