SHAPIRO 17 - New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60
Summit Records: DCD 756 (2 CD Set)
Jon Shapiro (composer/conductor/arranger) and 17-piece orchestra featuring: Paul Carlon (tenor sax) Rob Wilkerson (soprano sax) Ben Kono, Candice DeBartolo (alto sax) Rob Middleton (tenor sax) Matt Hong (baritone sax) Deborah Weisz, Alex Jeun, Nick Grinder, Walter Harris (trombone) Andy Gravish, Eddie Allen (trumpet) Roberta Piket (piano) Sebastian Noelle (guitar) Evan Gregor (bass) Jon Wikan(drums). Recorded June 19th to 21st New York
.
Back in 2001 Gunther Schuller, in collaboration with Joe Lovano, recorded a `Birth of the Cool Suite` for Blue Note Records to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Miles Davis. Taking three pieces from the fabled nonet’s repertoire that was assembled under the iconic title and interspersing them with newly composed interludes, whilst showcasing Lovano and other soloists, the original music was recast and refreshed in a way that enriched and honoured the musical vision of its creators. In a similar vein, but on a much more ambitious scale, composer& academician Jon Shapiro has done the same thing with `Kind of Blue`, arguably the most influential recording in modern jazz, to celebrate its 60th anniversary
Performed by the seventeen strong orchestra he founded in 2012, Shapiro has re-arranged with stunning originality each of the five pieces recorded by the Miles Davis sextet in 1959 and set them within a suite of seven of his own original pieces each bearing the title `Boiled Funk`, or in one case ` `Foiled Bunk`, being an anagram of `Kind of Blue`. If this sounds rather gimmicky and unworthy of the source material let me hastily disabuse you of any such notion. This is not facile butt popping dance music: what Shapiro and his musicians have done with Miles’ magnum opus is positively magisterial in terms of re-interpretation and extension. Neither is it a dry academic exercise for though there is much that is clever and complex, it is also powerful and exciting with arresting climaxes, sleazy riffs, intriguing re-construction, startling shifts in tempo and harmonic daring. The orchestral writing is a triumph of logical connectedness between the old and the new, often using elements from the original solos and working them into the new thematic material. Those who admire the work of Gil Evans, George Russell, even Stan Kenton and Johnny Richards (there’s going back) plus Mingus – though his large ensembles rarely achieved the clarity and coherence on display here – will readily warm to this music which could be summarised as progressive jazz underscored with the swinging vitality of Count Basie and enhanced by the exotic colourations of Duke Ellington.
Then there are the soloists: by spreading the project across two CDs, Shapiro has given his crew ample opportunity to demonstrate their virtuosity which they display without resorting to air- shredding verbosity. It seems invidious to select a few individuals from such a pool of excellence but Deborah Weisz warrants special mention for her lusty trombone technique and guitarist Sebastian Noelle impresses with a showcase solo in `Flamenco Sketches`. Indeed, every section contains one or more instrumentalists who produce music that is equal in every respect to the best available in contemporary jazz and together, under the direction of their maestro, who simultaneously occupies the role of curator and creator, they bring a new zest and depth of meaning to Davis’s classic piece without submerging its delicacies and subtle nuances. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Summit Records: DCD 756 (2 CD Set)
Jon Shapiro (composer/conductor/arranger) and 17-piece orchestra featuring: Paul Carlon (tenor sax) Rob Wilkerson (soprano sax) Ben Kono, Candice DeBartolo (alto sax) Rob Middleton (tenor sax) Matt Hong (baritone sax) Deborah Weisz, Alex Jeun, Nick Grinder, Walter Harris (trombone) Andy Gravish, Eddie Allen (trumpet) Roberta Piket (piano) Sebastian Noelle (guitar) Evan Gregor (bass) Jon Wikan(drums). Recorded June 19th to 21st New York
.
Back in 2001 Gunther Schuller, in collaboration with Joe Lovano, recorded a `Birth of the Cool Suite` for Blue Note Records to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Miles Davis. Taking three pieces from the fabled nonet’s repertoire that was assembled under the iconic title and interspersing them with newly composed interludes, whilst showcasing Lovano and other soloists, the original music was recast and refreshed in a way that enriched and honoured the musical vision of its creators. In a similar vein, but on a much more ambitious scale, composer& academician Jon Shapiro has done the same thing with `Kind of Blue`, arguably the most influential recording in modern jazz, to celebrate its 60th anniversary
Performed by the seventeen strong orchestra he founded in 2012, Shapiro has re-arranged with stunning originality each of the five pieces recorded by the Miles Davis sextet in 1959 and set them within a suite of seven of his own original pieces each bearing the title `Boiled Funk`, or in one case ` `Foiled Bunk`, being an anagram of `Kind of Blue`. If this sounds rather gimmicky and unworthy of the source material let me hastily disabuse you of any such notion. This is not facile butt popping dance music: what Shapiro and his musicians have done with Miles’ magnum opus is positively magisterial in terms of re-interpretation and extension. Neither is it a dry academic exercise for though there is much that is clever and complex, it is also powerful and exciting with arresting climaxes, sleazy riffs, intriguing re-construction, startling shifts in tempo and harmonic daring. The orchestral writing is a triumph of logical connectedness between the old and the new, often using elements from the original solos and working them into the new thematic material. Those who admire the work of Gil Evans, George Russell, even Stan Kenton and Johnny Richards (there’s going back) plus Mingus – though his large ensembles rarely achieved the clarity and coherence on display here – will readily warm to this music which could be summarised as progressive jazz underscored with the swinging vitality of Count Basie and enhanced by the exotic colourations of Duke Ellington.
Then there are the soloists: by spreading the project across two CDs, Shapiro has given his crew ample opportunity to demonstrate their virtuosity which they display without resorting to air- shredding verbosity. It seems invidious to select a few individuals from such a pool of excellence but Deborah Weisz warrants special mention for her lusty trombone technique and guitarist Sebastian Noelle impresses with a showcase solo in `Flamenco Sketches`. Indeed, every section contains one or more instrumentalists who produce music that is equal in every respect to the best available in contemporary jazz and together, under the direction of their maestro, who simultaneously occupies the role of curator and creator, they bring a new zest and depth of meaning to Davis’s classic piece without submerging its delicacies and subtle nuances. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
