Nigel Kennedy Jazz

Nigel Kennedy - Plays Jazz (1984)
Label: Chandos | MP3 320 KB/s | Covers | Total Time: 54:55 | 139 MB
Genre: Jazz Instrumental Violin

In this day and age of unspontaneous music making, even in the fields of pop and jazz music, Peter Pettinger and I for this disc, at least, were totally unrehearsed. And I hope that the spontaneity which arose because of this has more than made up for the lack of rehearsal. I, certainly, can imagine having spent far more time and worry on a worse disc … but let me tell you how the disc came to be in the first place:
To be honest, I suppose I should say I am more well known as a classical musician, and it was in this guise that Peter Pettinger and I went happily to the pub having just finished recording the Elgar sonata and pieces four hours ahead of schedule. After a drink we both felt like playing again and Brian Couzens (our producer) was game enough to come and record us. My years playing with Stephane Grappelli and in clubs in New York have left me with an insatiable appetite for playing jazz (and, incidentally, any other kind of music) and since Peter Pettinger is such a tremendous jazz pianist we decided to play a few standards. Here is what we came up with, completely unrehearsed and unedited. Stephane Grappelli often used to call me his musical grandson, so 1 hope he likes this disc but will allow his "grandson" to misbehave once in a while…Nigel Kennedy

This recording was made the same day as Kennedy's debut recording (Elgar Sonata.) He had some studio time left over, so he and Peter Pettinger spontaneously played some jazz standards. No planning, no rehearsal, no previous experience playing jazz together. In that context, this is a remarkable recording. And a historical first that will likely never be repeated - debut classical and debut jazz recording being recorded on the same day.
Jazz violin is hard to come by. Few people have the technique to play the violin well enough to even begin to serve the free flow and spontaneity of jazz. And few, if any, jazz musicians have ever recorded a more than passable performance of classical repertoire…

This DVD contains pieces of two polish romantic composers, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz and Emil Mlynarski, performed by Nigel Kennedy accompanied by the Polish Chamber Orchestra, recorded live during various concerts in Poland.
While Nigel Kennedy is one of the leading violinists of his generation, he is also among the most controversial of musicians before the public, owing to his flashy persona, unconventional interpretations, and his seemingly innate sense to capture attention. Kennedy's rock-star-like appearance in concert (glittering jewelry, spiky hair, etc.) and his controversial politics (he has boycotted Israel, comparing that nation with South Africa) have often drawn sharp criticism.

As one of the most successful classical performers of his time, violinist Nigel Kennedy's genre-defying music helped him achieve a level of fame typically reserved for pop stars. A native of Brighton, England, he studied music at the Yehudi Menuhin School and at Juilliard; his debut recording, Elgar Violin Concerto, appeared in 1984, shortly followed by Nigel Kennedy Plays Jazz.

The album covers of the iconoclastic British violinist Nigel Kennedy often promise more craziness than they actually deliver, and that's true in the case of this release, presenting to the buyer a cartoon of a mohawk-wearing figure saying "Shhh!" The contents differ considerably from what the cover would suggest; Shhh! is a more or less straight-ahead album of jazz in various styles. Kennedy came by his inclination toward jazz honestly, playing jazz on the piano as a child and appearing in a duet concert at age 16 with Stéphane Grappelli despite warnings from his teachers. Here he appears, as on several other albums from the 2005-2010 period, with an all-Polish group of musicians (except for Afro-British percussionist Xantoné Blacq)…

Nigel Kennedy made quite a reputation for himself as a classical violin virtuoso, though he long expressed an interest in jazz prior to the making of this CD. A number of jazz veterans, including bassist Ron Carter, drummer Jack DeJohnette, pianist Kenny Werner, and tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano (along with several others) are present and provide a stimulating group for Kennedy, who early on in the disc is comparable to Jean-Luc Ponty during the early stages of his career as a leader.

Classics is proud to announce the release The Very Best of Nigel Kennedy. This 2-CD set celebrates the multiple facets of the award-winning, multi-million record selling violinist, featuring works from his twin passions, classical and jazz.

If anyone has earned the right to mess around with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons it is Nigel Kennedy, the violin world’s Marmite violinist. Remember how fresh he made this music sound on his recording of a quarter-century ago? This latest version offers a ferment of all he’s played since – concertos, jazz, Jimi Hendrix. It’s affectionate and irreverent in equal measure, and Kennedy and his Orchestra of Life never sound less than riveting. Pretty much all Vivaldi’s notes are there; around, above and in between them come interjections, overlays and linking passages involving guest musicians from jazz and rock: Orphy Robinson, Damon Reece, Z-Star and others. Spring is welcomed in by a distant-sounding intro on an electric-guitar. Summer’s storms bring forth bursts of crazily sampled static. Autumn tears off at a cracking pace, but with a jazz trumpet sauntering lazily over the top. It all sounds like a colossal jam session from the inside of a Botticelli painting.