No, it’s not someone “swinging the classics”, but Franz Schubert does get a go-over with arrangements by Benjamin Shorstein and interpretations by a nifty post bop team consisting of Juan Rollan/sax, Steve Strawley/tp, Lance Reed/tb, Jonah Pierre/p, Jarrett Carter/g, Mike Perez/b, Milan Algood/perc and Shorstein on drums. The result is ten tunes that jump the centuries exceedingly well.
It’s impossible to tell that these songs come from Austria or 200 years ago, as the themes on pieces like “Good Night” sound positively Ellingtonian along with “Mooche” like growling from Steve Strawely. Rollan’s tenor runs alongside Mingus-like piano and drums interplay on “Frozen” and Carter’s guitar sizzles through the Blue Note groove of “Loneliness”. Pierre’s piano goes modal on “The Sun Dogs” and Perez digs a deep rivulet with Shorstein on “Last Hope” while cascading to Shorstein’s ride cymbal on “The Crow”. Clever, and then some! Bring on the Schumanns!