The listener may be forgiven for thinking that the world does not need one more recording of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, one of the most familiar pieces in the classical repertory, and known to any jazz fan as well due to the Miles Davis album Sketches of Spain, but the Davis recording holds the key to why this release from Jacob Kellermann stands out. It inspired the present performers to depict Spain and Spanish music "as if through a prism -- as a concept rather than a place," they say. It's not that there ...
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The listener may be forgiven for thinking that the world does not need one more recording of Joaquín Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, one of the most familiar pieces in the classical repertory, and known to any jazz fan as well due to the Miles Davis album Sketches of Spain, but the Davis recording holds the key to why this release from Jacob Kellermann stands out. It inspired the present performers to depict Spain and Spanish music "as if through a prism -- as a concept rather than a place," they say. It's not that there are jazz influences, although there are hints of it. Rather, the program interprets the Concierto de Aranjuez, especially the Adagio, as Davis did, taking up and manipulating harmonic patterns, bits of melody, and the gestures of flamenco that underlie the whole tradition. There are a couple of pre-Rodrigo Spanish classics, but the focus is on two new pieces, one by Francisco Coll (Turia is the name of a river in Barcelona that also inspired Rodrigo) and the very contemporary Solace &...
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