Search - Ernst Reijseger, Franco D'andrea :: I Love You So Much It Hurts

A rare introduction to two of Europe's finest avant players

Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 12/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ernst Reijseger, German jazz bad boy cello maestro, co-founder of that avant weirdo group, Clusone Three, and Franco D'Andria, Italian iconoclast pianist, here team up for some mind-expanding duo offerings.Not your everyday jazz experience, these outings should prove perfectly accessible to anyone familiar with European progressive jazz, yet not beyond the pale for enthusiasts looking for something a little out of the ordinary. What sets these pieces apart is their listener-friendly eccentricity. Mildly deconstructionist yet retaining a fundamental commitment to and appreciation both of the melodic integrity and structural genius of these mostly standard pieces, these intrepretations straddle a middle ground between irony and devotion. And that's what makes them so compelling: one never knows when admiration will morph into avant expressionism.By turns playful, witty, and (ir)reverant, this disc dances to its own unique sensibility. It may take several listen for the average jazz enthusiast to begin to appreciate the (admittedly) strange vibe going down here, but once accessed, I believe there are abundant rewards. It has seldom left my player since I acquired it several weeks ago."