Chopin melodies used as a basis for jazz improvisation? In the wrong hands,
the results could be truly catastrophic. Yet it’s a notion with great appeal
for celebrated Dutch piano marvel Peter Beets.
“Why, melodic embellishment is at the heart of everything that Chopin wrote!’
enthuses Peter. “In fact, he was composing tunes ideal for bebop, although
he couldn’t have known it at the time.”
It’s a happy coincidence that the fifth Criss Cross CD
under Beets’ leadership arrives during the bicentennial year of Chopin’s birth.
But it’s clearly not a project haphazardly thrown together at the
last moment. Instead, Peter recruited three of New York’s premier jazzmen –
guitarist Joe Cohn,
bassist Reuben Rogers and
drummer Greg Hutchinson – as co-conspirators.
Together, this quartet wrings extraordinary measures of beauty, excitement and
yes, fun from eight of Chopin’s most memorable pieces.
Their collaboration is, in a word, breathtaking.
(click image for a larger picture)
Barcode 8 712474 132928
1.
Nocturne in Eb Major, Opus 9 #2 (Frederic Chopin) 10:04
2.
Nocturne in F Minor, Opus 55 #1 (1) (Frederic Chopin) 7:39
3.
Mazurka in A Minor, Opus 17 #4 (Frederic Chopin) 8:25
4.
Prelude in B Minor, Opus 28 #6 (Frederic Chopin) 7:04
5.
Prelude in E Minor, Opus 28 #4 (Frederic Chopin) 5:35
6.
Nocturne in B Major, Opus 9 #3 (Frederic Chopin) 7:35
7.
Waltz in C# Minor, Opus 64 #2 (Frederic Chopin) 7:15
8.
Nocturne in F Minor, Opus 55 #1 (2) (Frederic Chopin) 7:20
Total Time: 61:03
Recorded
November 9, 2009
in
Brooklyn, NY, USA
by
Michael Marciano