Arthur Schwartz's "Alone Together" opens Stephen Riley's 2019 album I Remember You with the tenor saxophonist plunging directly into improvisation without an introduction. The tune's 36-bar AABA form in D minor, with its dramatic minor-key harmony and wide melodic intervals, has been a favorite vehicle for jazz improvisers since the 1930s. Riley takes two choruses at a moderate swing tempo of approximately 152 BPM, bringing his distinctive airy tone and behind-the-beat phrasing to the tune's dark, romantic changes. The immediate immersion in improvisation, beginning at the very start of the track, creates an intimate feeling of eavesdropping on a private musical moment. Guitarist Vic Juris follows with two choruses of electric guitar that explore the minor-key tonality with harmonic sophistication. Bassist Jay Anderson contributes a single chorus of acoustic bass improvisation, maintaining the subdued intensity. The pianoless trio format is particularly effective on a minor-key tune like this, where the absence of chordal accompaniment enhances the sense of harmonic ambiguity and allows the soloists to suggest rather than state the underlying changes. Riley's approach to the material reflects his deep absorption of the Lester Young tradition, applying Young's floating, lyrical sensibility to a harmonic context more complex than Young himself typically encountered.
