Different Porgy And Another Be - GERSHWIN HEYWARD CD

Product Description David Linx & Maria Joao, voted best Jazz Vocal Artists at the latest French "Victories de la Musique Jazz", are now offering a new version of Gershwins Porgy and Bess called a Different Porgy & Another Bess. Brilliantly recorded with the famous Brussels Jazz Orchestra, this new version of Gershwins masterpiece, full of joy and good swing, is perfect for classical and jazz fans. The Brussels Jazz Orchestra is now renowned worldwide, as they are the performers on the original soundtrack of the 5-Oscar winning picture the Artist! Review . . . A Different Porgy And Another Bess is magnificently transformed into a more modern adaptation of the original with perhaps the intent of raising the social consciousness of the audience as part of the desired intent. The musical and cultural traditions that are interpreted in the original Porgy and Bess are actually extended past the somewhat self limiting original characters and it is this brilliantly throughout extension that allows this adaptation to stand side by side with the original as a work of great cultural significance and advancing past stereotypical cultural expectations. An epic work. --CriticalJazz, Brent BlackOne of the great jazz discs of the year. If anything, in fact, it proves conclusively that Europe is now the home of the great jazz orchestras, its this one, coming as it does on the heels of the recent Kenny Wheeler masterpiece The Long Waiting.The great meetings of jazz and George Gershwins surprisingly hardy and dominating opera in American music came when Samuel Goldwyns film of Porgy and Bess came out in 1959, by some lights the greatest year ever in modern jazz. Thats when jazz got one of its greatest masterpieces in Miles Davis and Gil Evans version of Gershwins score. Much was made of the large orchestral version by Bill Potts but, in retrospect, much finer was the elaborate set with Mel Torme and Frances Faye singing Porgy and Bess with arrangements by Russell Garcia. A Different Porgy and Another Bess, more than 50 years later, is an altogether original version of the score performed by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra playing arrangements by a platoon of some of the best arrangers in Europe and sung by David Linx and Maria Joao. There are times, regrettably, when Joaos voice has some of the girlish, even pixieish quality of, say, Blossom Dearie which really makes no sense at all with someone singing music written for one of the most womanly characters in American musical theater. (It would be different, of course, if Dearie or, say, young Kat Edmonson, were to sing selections from it. Singing the best of the score on one disc is another dramatic matter.) With that one reservation, this disc turns out to be absolutely spectacular, with fresh voicings in virtually every arrangement and vocals by Linx, especially, that arent all that far from the masterly versions of Mel Torme. A great jazz record, as so many of the 21st century European discs seem to be seemingly out of nowhere. --The Buffalo News, Jeff SimonHaving just the other day picked up the Harnancourt novo-operatic version of Porgy & Bess, a very Britten-esque affair I must say, I was ready and willing to hear the Gershwins (and Heywards) masterpiece set into yet another context, and David Link & Maria Joao, in A Different Porgy & Another Bess managed to radicalize things rather surprisingly within a big band / cinematic context. In fact, there are more than a few sympathies to the Harnancourt gig just in terms of bold moves and striking twists, but also fidelity to what the esteemed past composers put into print.The band is the Brussels Jazz Orchestra, and each track is arranged by different ensemble members and others, yet everything coheres with a wild energy and irresistible modern swing. Linx is of course Porgy while Joao takes the Bess role. Hes earthy and almost lounge lizardy while she sports a soaring nearly babydoll temptress voice. Neither holds back for a moment, diving into the deep end of their parts, and the band accentuates every shift in emphasis and inflection. Joaos I Love You Porgy is maddeningly seductive while Link is forever the cool cat, the urbane street feline with a knowing set of street smarts.The band nabs a very generous collection of solos and group free flight, so the disc lacks for nothing. The discs atmospherics and speed are heady, almost breathless in more than one place, not to mention kaleidoscopic. This is not a Porgy & Bess for the timid, even when considered against a number of other very good versions. Everyone here has managed to re-flesh the golden standards, resurrecting the song cycle into the modern age. If Harnoncourt was harmonizing with Britten, then whoever is responsible for this glorious romp, and that persons not identified in the promo disc or lit I have, well, he or she is at one with Stan Kenton and Gil Evans and should get some kind of medal. --AcousticMusicAdditional Info: Personnel: David Linx (vocals).

Specifics

  • Album: Different Porgy And Another Be
  • Artist: GERSHWIN HEYWARD
  • Label: NAIVE
  • Genre: Jazz
  • MPN: NJ622011
Tracklist

1. A Red-Headed Woman
2. A Woman Is A Sometime Thing
3. I Love You, Porgy
4. Buzzard Song
5. My Man Is Gone Now
6. Oh Lord, I’m On My Way
7. Clara, Clara Don’t Be Downhearted
8. Bess You Are My Woman Now
9. Oh Doctor Jesus
10. I’ve Got Plenty Of Nothing
11. Summertime

(CD-3298496220119)

SKU CD-3298496220119
Barcode # 3298496220119
Brand NAIVE
Shipping Weight 0.0690kg
Shipping Width 0.130m
Shipping Height 0.010m
Shipping Length 0.140m

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