Search - Charles Koechlin, Ernest Chausson, Erik Satie :: Lee Konitz & the Axis String Quartet

Since his first recordings more than a half-century ago, alto saxophonist Lee Konitz has never shied away from a challenge, and he rises to another one here. Composer-arranger Ohad Talmor has adapted nine works from the early-20th-century French Impressionist school, arranging solo piano or duet pieces by Debussy, Erik Satie, and others to admit Konitz's improvisations and, occasionally, those of the string quartet. The rearrangement structures the pieces so that neither Konitz nor the quartet is ever quite playing the "original," and the altoist's improvisations are so seamlessly mated to the writing that it's sometimes hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. The textures and rhythmic shapes remain largely those of classical music. This hasn't been "jazzed up" or watered down, and Talmor's arrangements, like the swirl of pizzicato fragments that introduces Ravel's "Berceuse," are highly idiomatic. Konitz has found a sound, a rhythm, and a sense of line to match the material. His tone is never traditionally classical, but it combines smoothness and flutelike airiness in a way that seems ideal for these melodies. He also manages to adapt his lines to scales and chords that are sometimes simpler than usual. The results are often beautiful in both fresh and timeless ways, with a grace and charm, even an innocence, all their own. --Stuart Broomer