While strings have teamed with jazz since the earliest days with Paul Whiteman’s Orchestra, the marriage has always seemed a bit forced. Here are a couple of releases that keep working on the covenant.
Pianist Yves L’eveille teams with Lizann Gervais/vi, Olivier Thouin/vi, Francois Vallieres/va, Emilie Girard-Charest/cel and Etienne Lafrance/b four eight chamber’d moods. The first four pieces are more of a classical piano sextet with hints of jazz, with LaFrance’s bass soloing over the bold prancing strokes of “Coloeur Grenade” and leading the melody on the graceful “Missive”. Le’veille takes charge a bit more on the later tunes, bringing out a Gershwinish “Le Reservoir” with Girard-Charest’s pleading cello, and the classy “Embrasure” with Depression Era stylings, while Une Journee Comme Ca takes you to Eastern European parlors. Fascinating rhythms.
Tenor saxist, clarinetist , composer and arranger Chris Torkewitz brings together a jazz chamber orchestra and jazz orchestra for two environments of modern sounds. The chamber orchestra includes a string section that supplies pizzicato’d pulses for Jay Rattman’s clarinet on “Vista” while the strings get Bartokian for the licorice stick on “Notias”. Violinist Curtis Stewart solos on the Coplandesque “Seiltanz” while the orchestra swings easy on the hip “TS” and “One for You” with Gil Evansy harmonics on the very hip “Steingarden”. Modern fanfares for the swinging man.