March 9, 2011

  • Review: Jazz Nocturne-American Concertos of the Jazz Age

     

    Jazz Nocturne: American Concertos of the Jazz Age
    Soloists, Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra/Richard Rosenberg
    Naxos 8.559647
    Total Time:  70:43
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

     

    The melding of classical and jazz musical forms was of high interest in the early 20th century.  The lines were not as blurry around serious or popular music but it was soon to get a bit murkier as composers like Gershwin connected with the likes of Paul Whiteman.  Whiteman’s concerts might be categorized today more like pops concerts but they grew out of a similar band tradition of the turn of the century where classical and popular pieces could be found on the same program.  It would not be out of place to hear say “A Bicycle Built for Two” in a popular arrangement next to a brand new march by Sousa, but for Whiteman, there was more experimentation with the latest craze over “jazz” and the many syncopated rhythmic potentials.  Gershwin was tapped to write what became the Rhapsody in Blue for the first “Experiment in Modern Music” concert that Whiteman was putting together.  That concert had contemporary jazz music alongside more serious works by the likes of Victor Herbert (though one might say Herbert’s operettas were more the stuff of popular music). 

    The five works on Jazz Nocturne are all separated by no more than one degree of connection.  At the center is Gershwin’s now famous work from 1924.  The performance here is the complete original jazz band version with its orchestration credited to Ferde Grofe.  The other works were in some way or another connected to that work through Paul Whiteman’s own request, or as a result of a performers work with the band.  The disc opens with Yamekraw, A Negro Rhapsody by James P. Johnson.  Johnson’s more well known for popular songs (“The Charleston” perhaps his most familiar) and for developing the stride piano style.  His music is a crucial connector to the sound of ragtime piano and what would become jazz piano style.  The orchestral version receives its premiere recording here in an arrangement by William Grant Still.  The piece was written in 1927 as a sort of response to Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and was heard at a Carnegie Hall concert performed by Fats Waller.  It had future appearances as film music for a short bearing the same title and Orson Welles used it as the overture for his Macbeth in the 1930s.  The work has some resemblance to Gershwin’s free fantasy form but Still’s orchestration gives it a slightly more rich sound.  To hear this piece for the first time is a pure joy.  Engaging thematic ideas are melded into this hybrid classical-jazz piece that allows one to hear both those early ragtime piano styles with something closer to a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody.  This work alone would be worth adding another version of the Gershwin to your musical library.  Gary Hammond’s committed performance makes this a convincing work and he is admirably accompanied by the Hot Springs players.

    The most surprising work on the release though has to be Harry Reser’s Suite for Banjo and Orchestra.  Banjo players will be familiar with Reser’s name as the author behind most of the standard method books for the instrument as well as for guitar and ukulele.  The banjo’s connection to dance halls, coming out of 19th century Minstrel theater, might make the average classical enthusiast sniff in dismissal.  They would be missing out on what must be one of the most difficult pieces for the instrument.  The work was composed between 1922-1930 and is cast in 3 fascinating movements that explore the instrument in ways you would never think possible.  Reser’s work is essentially a jazzy guitar concerto requiring a few interesting effects.  A common one is to slide up the string chromatically making one forget that we are hearing a banjo.  There are times when it could be a handful of people playing the solo as there is so much going on in its part.  But Reser’s work, even with its fanciful subtitles indicating particular moods, still manages to explore the banjo without using cliché gestures.  This is no “hillbilly” work, but one that takes the instrument seriously.  The great jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt comes to mind as one listens to this piece and marvels at how great an artist Reser was as Don Vappie, who arranged the work for performance, plays the piece with amazing skill. 

    Gerswhin’s Rhapsody in Blue has many fine performances.  There were versions of Gershwin’s “original” orchestration of this piece in the 1980s and 1990s culminating in a recording by Michael Tilson Thomas which is a now a classic.  Another popular release attempted to recreate the Whiteman concert and featured all the music from that program.  The Naxos release has a few things going for it which has more to do with what is accompanying the work.  The performance here does a good job of recreating the Whiteman sound a bit and it is helped by some clear acoustic presentation.  Tatiana Roitman is in some heady company as the soloist but approaches the musical text with sensitivity and a few extra interpretive touches that some will notice are informed by period performances transcribed on piano rolls.  Rosenberg approaches the work trying to strip away some of the more overwrought moments that tend to be overemphasized along the lines of a Romantic concerto than the jazzy intent of the work.  That allows for things to be a bit tighter and for ensemble sections to move a bit quicker than some may be accustomed to from years of big orchestral versions.  The bottom line is that there is a balance between trying to recreate a classic moment in time and providing some interpretation.  Heard against the backdrop of the other works on the disc, one is prepared for how the piece sounds.  The disc needs this work in order for it to have broader context for the listener to appreciate the music.  Most fun will be hearing the clarity of the orchestra that even lets you hear the strumming banjo lines.  Fun slides in the music are well-done too.  This won’t replace your favorite Rhapsody recording, but you will be listening to this disc a lot anyway and you will eventually become quite comfortable with the performance.  The recording provides good detail, though the gong/cymbal crash near the end could be louder for better impact. 

    Finally, there are two works by Dana Suesse (1909-1987).  Suesse moved to New York City from Kansas City, Missouri, and had a career as a pianist and composer in vaudeville and radio.  Her most popular song was “Syncopated Love Song” first heard in 1928.  Two additional international hits began to get the attention she deserved and Paul Whiteman soon commissioned her to provide a piece for his Fourth Experiment in Modern Music.  Suesse was often referred to as the “Girl Gershwin” and this disc brings to light a short and a concerto.  The “Jazz Nocturne” from 1931 would become the song “My Silent Love” sung by Bing Crosby in the short film Blue of the Night.  What makes this little piece interesting is the simplistic left-hand accompaniment that shifts from a more classically staid chordal approach to one that begins to take on jazz influences.  The melody is of course simply beautiful and the arrangement by Carroll Huxley is simply superb.  

    Suesse’s Concerto in Three Rhythms (1932; incidentally orchestrated by Grofe) is in three movements with dance implications:  Fox Trot, Blues, and Rag.  The work shared a program with Gershwin’s Second Rhapsody, and I Got Rhythm as well as Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite and a fox trot version of Ravel’s Bolero (!).  Unlike Gershwin’s Piano Concerto which aspired for a concert hall life, Suesse’s work is still firmly rooted in popular musical style with a more through-composed or song-like structure that gives each idea a more rhapsodic-like sound.  The first movement has an episodic quality that allows the soloists plenty of melodic ideas and virtuosic displays of which one finds parallels In Rachmaninoff.  The ideas move along at quite a pace as she explores the rhythms of these dances in what amounts to a fascinating work when all is said and done.  Michael Gurt’s performance helps make the work engaging with the second blues movement being a particular highlight.

    It is perhaps too soon to tell, but Jazz Nocturne may be one of the best classical releases of the year.  The music is all engaging and top-knotch.  These are not just simple curiosities that can now be checked off the recorded American music list.  Each of these works provides a fascinating window into a decade of orchestral music that flirted with popular forms.  They may not have the more formal structure classical concerti have, but then again there are plenty of concert concerti of the period that were experimenting formally as well.  The Hot Springs Festival Orchestra really gets the style of these works and performs them with an exhuberance and high quality of musicianship under the apt direction of Richard Rosenberg.  The sound of the recording is well-matched given that the performances were recorded over the course of five years.  Here’s to more from this Arkansas festival!  Highly recommended.