Over the years, there have been a number of excellent albums featuring jazz soloists with strings, featuring artists like Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Coleman Hawkins and many more. In my opinion, the best such record ever was Focus, recorded in that epochal jazz year of 1961 by Stan Getz, with string arrangements by Eddie Sauter. Theres nothing else like it. But last night I discovered this stuff from tenor saxophonist John Gunther, who endeavored to perform the bulk of Focus with the University of Colorado Boulder Chamber Orchestra just a few months ago. This was not easy: Gunther concedes speed to Getz, focusing on replicating that unmistakable tone and articulation. The band keeps up nicely; you can see the students enjoying the unique opportunity they were afforded. My favorite is the drummer, stepping into the Roy Haynes spot--and good luck with that, fella. Just watch his face the whole time; the kid is putting in WORK back there. Its always nice to see young people pushing themselves like this, and succeeding, and its a nice reminder of how much great music is being made by Americas colleges, universities and even high schools. Hopefully Duval can land the #IAJE conference at some point; its a perfect fit... https://youtube/watch?v=rtcdFZgsbcM
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 19:35:38 +0000
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