Common Sense Tone Sequences For Contemporary Jazz Improvisation

This is the third consecutive "Euro-Jazz" CD compilation produced by Jazz & Tzaz Magazine (Greece), featuring a large proportion of the groups and musicians that will participate in this year’s concerts of the 4th European Jazz Festival in Athens. Creative music and musicians from all over Europe give an integral scope of a special kind and variety, and a special feeling of contemporary jazz in Europe. This year’s festival is enriched by the participation of the new European Union members from Central and Eastern Europe. Jazz & Τζαζ Magazine would like to thank all European Embassies and Cultural Institutes (plus the Municipality of Athens) for their kind and helpful collaboration in making this CD, as well as all the musicians and record labels involved.

The first 12 volumes of our hugely popular Spiritual Jazz series have unearthed a wealth of historic recordings in the genre, collating a variety of works from the ‘50s to the ‘80s by artists from all around the world. And so, with Volume 13, we turn our attention to what’s happening NOW.

The names of Johann Sebastian Bach, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachmaninoff do not necessarily conjure images and sounds of jazz in one's mind, that is until one has listened to recordings by the Classical Jazz Quartet. Although these musicians utilize the same instruments as the Modern Jazz Quartet, they are in no way clones or copycats of that groundbreaking group. They have very much their own sound and style. This is not surprising given the huge talent of the musicians involved; all four are virtuosos on their respective instruments. The themes, although composed in a different time and place, become excellent vehicles for complex, sometimes, bluesy, often swinging and always fresh improvisations in the hands of these musicians.

The first 12 volumes of our hugely popular Spiritual Jazz series have unearthed a wealth of historic recordings in the genre, collating a variety of works from the ‘50s to the ‘80s by artists from all around the world. And so, with Volume 13, we turn our attention to what’s happening NOW.

Produced by Laurent Cugny and Daniel Richard for Orchestre National De Jazz. Laurent Cugny - Bandleader. Ranks alongside George Gruntz as prime European contemporary composer, leader. His large orchestra is remniscent of Gil Evans big band in final stages; his pieces have quirky, unpredictable quality, as do his recordings.
The album was recorded in studio and live in 1994 and 1995.