Recordings
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Classical Changes - Art Deco Trio
1. The Bite of the Flumblebee (after Rimsky-Korsakov): 1:26 2. Valerie Takes a Ride (after Wagner): 4:20 3. Elise's Blues (after Beethoven): 4:27 4. Arrival Revival (after Handel): 2:14 5. One Night in Seville (after Bizet): 5:38 6. Jiffy Dance (after Bizet): 2:32 7. Saturday in the Park with Elgar (after Elgar): 3:00 8. Country Breaks (after Beethoven): 3:40 9. Jim's Nobody (after Satie): 4:49 10. Hungarian High-Five (after Brahms): 4:14 11. 3am Lullaby (after Brahms): 3:51 12. There's a Storm Brewing (after Vivaldi): 2:28 A Sea Shanty Shake-up 13. What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor: 2:24 14. Lowlands: 2:29 15. Sailor's Hornpipe: 2:14 Lay my Burden Down (based on African-American Spirituals): 16. When I Lay My Burden Down: 2:54 17. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child: 4:41 18. Amazing Grace: 6:50 19. Steal Away: 4:41 20. Every Time I Feel the Spirit: 4:10 Total: 73'03 SOMM Recordings - SOMM CD 0663 |
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Available on Spotify here
In the early decades of the 20th century, the new and exciting sounds of American jazz were captivating listeners across the Western world. Through the medium of gramophone records and radio, this highly energetic and toe-tapping music reached a wide and enthusiastic audience.
The musical material was a mixture of new work and arrangements of popular songs, by the likes of Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. One notable (and somewhat controversial) area in the genre was the reworking of Classical music, so-called “Jazzing the Classics”. Familiar and popular Classical melodies were reinvented as dance tunes, taking them out of their original sober environment into one that was more intoxicated. These Classical melodies were used partly to avoid paying royalties to living composers, but also to reach the broadest audience and to add a touch of old-school respectability.
Stride pianists such as Art Tatum and James P. Johnson drew inspiration from the Classical piano repertoire, transforming well-known tunes into brilliant display pieces of mind-boggling virtuosity. Jazz musicians would continue to explore the rich potential of Classical music throughout the century, from the gentle embellishments of Jacques Loussier to the full-blown Big Band suites of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. This album presents new versions of familiar works with a jazz twist. Some of them remain close to the originals, with added harmonic and rhythmic spice, while others are entirely new compositions that draw on the main melodic elements of the Classical works. In the tradition of Ellington, new titles are given to each piece, either as a pun on the original, or as a humorous tribute. Other pieces given a jazzy twist are a group of English sea shanties, and a set of African-American spirituals.
In the early decades of the 20th century, the new and exciting sounds of American jazz were captivating listeners across the Western world. Through the medium of gramophone records and radio, this highly energetic and toe-tapping music reached a wide and enthusiastic audience.
The musical material was a mixture of new work and arrangements of popular songs, by the likes of Irving Berlin and George Gershwin. One notable (and somewhat controversial) area in the genre was the reworking of Classical music, so-called “Jazzing the Classics”. Familiar and popular Classical melodies were reinvented as dance tunes, taking them out of their original sober environment into one that was more intoxicated. These Classical melodies were used partly to avoid paying royalties to living composers, but also to reach the broadest audience and to add a touch of old-school respectability.
Stride pianists such as Art Tatum and James P. Johnson drew inspiration from the Classical piano repertoire, transforming well-known tunes into brilliant display pieces of mind-boggling virtuosity. Jazz musicians would continue to explore the rich potential of Classical music throughout the century, from the gentle embellishments of Jacques Loussier to the full-blown Big Band suites of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. This album presents new versions of familiar works with a jazz twist. Some of them remain close to the originals, with added harmonic and rhythmic spice, while others are entirely new compositions that draw on the main melodic elements of the Classical works. In the tradition of Ellington, new titles are given to each piece, either as a pun on the original, or as a humorous tribute. Other pieces given a jazzy twist are a group of English sea shanties, and a set of African-American spirituals.