“Recipes” is the final track from the album Give Way, the debut collaboration between New Orleans-based saxophonist Kate Campbell Strauss and trumpeter Emily Mikesell. The whole album is a trip to a fairytale-like soundscape, and so is this track, embellished with simple and sweet motifs and unexpected twists.

This project, a stunning tribute to the power of organic spontaneity, originated at the University of New Orleans during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Give Way is an interesting mix of two methods—composition and improvisation. As Mikesell cites, before starting the recording process, Strauss and Mikesell agreed on a few ground rules, one of which is that once an idea is on the recording, it can’t be edited or deleted. Such collaborative quirks define the overall tone of the track.

“Recipes” opens with the main melody or motif. This heroic-themed motif is a juxtaposition of multiple layers of sax and trumpet. With only these two instruments, harmony, melody and rhythm-three core elements of music have been perfectly executed. By virtue of their compositional and collaborative synchronicity, the track was able to grow in depth and intensity.

The fusion of a brass instrument with a woodwind is not unprecedented by any stretch. However, “Recipes” digs deeper into diatonic harmony and draws out the true potential of both artists and their respective instruments. The choice of pitches in interlaying melody lines and ostinatos on the backbeat bring out the essence of this duo and also showcase the power of creative drive and impulse.