For Jazz Lovers
ARTISSIMO FESTIVAL!
Sunday, 2013 August 25th, 7 PM
Dzintari concerthall
Richard Galliano (accordion, bandoneon, accordina, France) and his ensemble (France)
NINO ROTA FOREVER
Mauro NEGRI, clarinet
Sylvain LE PROVOST, bass
Mattia BARBIERI, drums
It's hard to tell from the packaging, but these are not straight performances of melodies from Nino Rota's film scores but jazz versions of them, with French accordionist Richard Galliano in the lead role. That's not a stretch: Rota's s tunes are full of dance and circus elements that need only a bit of a rhythmic push to cross over into jazz, and Galliano’s group handles the transitions subtly and cleverly...
…All these pieces present visions of Italian popular culture, inflected in different ways. This was Rota's genius: his music seemed simple and sentimental, but it was actually a flexible language that could comment both the attractions and the grotesque dangers of mass culture. Rota's music, some of it now almost 75 years old, has stood the test of time, and one of the marks of its greatness is that it not only can stand up to but invites a variety of treatments, such as this fine jazz reading.
James Manheim on CD Richard Galliano Plays Nino Rota |