Long before
Wynton decided he could play
classical chops as well as the real long-haired interpreters, even though he was a
jazz musician,
Hubert Laws and his partners at
CTI gave it a run with a
jazz twist, and for the most part with a far more adventurous repertoire. Unfortunately, the results were just about as thrilling as
Wynton's, with a few notable exceptions. For whatever reason, flutist
Hubert Laws, known for his
soul-jazz deftness, decided to take on handful of
classical texts with the help of
Bob James on piano, harpsichord, and electric piano; bassist
Ron Carter, who doubles on cello; and drummer
Jack DeJohnette, along with percussionists
Airto and
David Friedman, a pair of
classical guitarists, and a trio of bassoonists. The program ranges from
Debussy's lovely
"Syrinx" and
Faure's
"Pavane," to
Stravinsky on the title cut and two movements of the third
Brandberg Concerto by
Bach. The problem with so much variation and ambition is that it's bound to get caught up somewhere. That catching place is in the articulation of the actual transcriptions. They are stiff, rigid, oddly intoned, and lackluster -- except in
Debussy's
"Syrinx," which is gorgeous throughout with its strange meter and lilting cadence. On the rest, the only place the tunes work is in the sections where the players engage in
jazz improvisation upon the score, which is a swirling, engaging free-for-all of color, texture, and nuance. But since this happens so irregularly, the pieces just seem to grate on the listener. This is a brave but ultimately failed experiment. ~ Thom Jurek
