Pablo Ziegler Quartet with Stefon Harris – Tango & All That Jazz – Kind of Blue The Oregon String Quartet – And All That Jazz – Koch Classics

by | Jun 23, 2007 | Jazz CD Reviews | 0 comments

Pablo Ziegler Quartet with Stefon Harris – Tango & All That Jazz – Kind of Blue KOB 10017, 55 min. ****:

(Pablo Ziegler, piano; Héctor del Curto, bandoneon; Paul Myers, guitar; Pablo Aslan, bass; guest artist: Stefon Harris, vibes)

The Oregon String Quartet – And All That Jazz – ALBERT GLINSKY: Canandaigua Quartet; THOMAS OBOE LEE: Morango…Almost a Tango; VICTOR STEINHARDT: Figment for Three Violas & Cello; DAVID BAKER: Sonata for Jazz Violin and String Quartet; FRITZ GEARHART: Geigezoid – Oregon String Quartet/Diane Monroe, jazz violin – Koch Classics KIC-CD-7672, 67:16 ****:

Both of these similarly-titled albums contribute to the increasing frustration of trying to pigeonhole music genres today.  Should these go in classical, jazz, world, or what?  Since they both refer to jazz in their titles I’m putting them here.  Pablo Ziegler was Astor Piazzolla’s pianist in his quintet for over ten years, and last year he won a Latin Grammy. This CD is part of his Tango Meets Jazz project in which top artists such as vibist Harris are invited to join Pablo and his quartet.  The recordings were made live at NYC’s Jazz Standard. Tango was a new Latin rhythm to young Stefon, but he got right into it and turns in some lovely solos. The arrangements – all by Ziegler – left room for improvisation by the guest players. There are two Piazzolla classic numbers, but the rest of the ten-track program are Ziegler originals. An exciting set which injects new contributions into the Piazolla jazz-flavored tango style instead of just replicating the originals.

The Oregon String Quartet’s album is subtitled “Jazz and Rock Influences in the Contemporary American String Quartet.”  Never mind that sounds like somebody’s thesis – this is an interesting program that injects new life in the age-old string quartet medium. The note booklet begins with a short survey of the melding of jazz and pop into classical music, which started with Milhaud’s “The Creation of the World” and Stravinsky’s “Ragtime.”  They also mention the Claude Bolling Suites and Peter Schickele’s First Quartet which used jazz sounds. The works on this CD will appeal to those who dig crossover quartets such as Turtle Island and the Uptown String Quartet.

 
The Canadaigua Quartet is envisioned by its composer as a sort of Bartok approach to incorporating folk and popular elements – the second movement uses an Appalachian melody. I found the piece less interesting than the rest of the CD, which begins to light up with the short tango-influenced quartet by Thomas Oboe Lee. David Baker is both a jazz and classical composer and arranger as well as band leader, and thus perfect for this collection. His Sonata is written out in standard classical style for the quartet, but the jazz violinist is allowed improvisatory room thruout the work. Its second movement is a blues and the third is in Calypso rhythm.  The CD was recorded at the University of Oregon and is altogether great fun.

 – John Sunier

Related Reviews
Logo Pure Pleasure
Logo Crystal Records Sidebar 300 ms
Logo Jazz Detective Deep Digs Animated 01