John Petrucci/Jordan Rudess "An Evening With John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess"

Practice might make perfect, but no practice can make magic. One night in autumn of 2000, guitar master John Petrucci and keyboard wonder Jordan Rudess -- both of prog rock heroes Dream Theater -- performed as a duo for the first time at the intimate Helen Hayes Theatre Company. The musicians wrote nine compositions for the concert during a Dream Theater tour in the weeks before, but none were finished. Petrucci and Rudess looked over the skeleton charts once, but never rehearsed. Nevertheless, the duo had the confidence to record the performance. What resulted was a display of unparalleled musicianship and spontaneity so spectacular, when Steve Vai recently heard the album for the first time, he knew within seconds he wanted his Favored Nations label to properly release it. Fusing top-notch genre-hopping performances with fine finesse, and a little magic, "An Evening with John Petrucci & Jordan Rudess" is one of the most adventurous instrumental albums to date.