Uri Caine Shelf Life

Few jazz performers have been as successful in applying their improvisational chops to the work of revered classical composers as this Philadelphia born pianist Uri Caine, whose catalog over the years has included homages to everyone from Herbie Hancock and Thelonious Monk to the songs of Tin Pan Alley and more recently, Mahler, Wagner, Bach, Beethoven and Schumann.

Uri Caine - The Goldberg Variations (2000) {2CD Winter & Winter 910 054-2 rec 1999-2000}
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© 2000 Winter & Winter | 910 054-2
Jazz / Classical / Modern Creative / Avant-Garde Jazz / Baroque / Post Modern / Turntables / Electronic

In the 21st century, it's easy to take technology for granted and forget that in the time of Johann Sebastian Bach (b. 1685, d. 1750), there were no cars, busses, airplanes, TVs, radios, movies, tape recorders, electric lights, or computers. People used candles to light their homes, and horses were the fastest way to get around. There were excellent plays and opinionated theater critics to review them, but no cameras to film the actors and actresses. Recording technology had yet to be invented, so the only way to hear classical musicians was to hear them performing live. Although the classical artists of Bach's time could not be recorded, they left behind their compositions, and today's classical musicians continue to keep them alive.

Uri Caine Ensemble - Wagner e Venezia (1997) {Winter & Winter 910 013-2}
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© 1997 Winter & Winter | 910 013-2
Jazz / Chamber Jazz / Classical / Avant-Garde Jazz / Piano

Uri Caine, like many other jazz players, has a fairly solid background in classical music. Unlike many jazz players, he has found a way to successfully work in the classical repertoire while using improvisation and love of a variety of musical styles he came by as a jazz player. To that end, Caine has released a handful of stunningly original albums covering the music of Mahler, Schumann, Bach, and Wagner. While Caine's critically acclaimed Mahler (Urlicht/Primal Light) and Bach (Goldberg Variations) discs have featured him, at times, radically reworking the material, this fine Wagner program finds the pianist sticking mostly to the original scores.

Uri Caine - The Othello Syndrome (2008) {Winter & Winter 910 135-2}
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© 2008 Winter & Winter | 910 135-2
Jazz / Classical / Avant-Garde Jazz / Post Bop / Modern Creative / Keyboards

Keyboardist Uri Caine has previously explored the music of Bach, Mozart, Wagner, and Beethoven, so it is hardly surprising that he continues to use classical composers as a source of inspiration for his improvisations. This outing draws on excerpts from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Otello, with the pianist incorporating his usual wild arrangements. Caine is obviously very familiar with the music, but willing to take chances, as in his playful setting of "Fire Song" and a klezmer-like setting of "Drinking Song."

Beautiful duets between trumpeter Paolo Fresu and keyboardist Uri Caine – a wonderful session from the Italian arm of Blue Note Records, and easily one of Caine's more sensitive moments on record! The pair play together without any sort of rhythm section – just Fresu's horn, and Caine's keys, which are either acoustic piano or Fender Rhodes. But many tracks also feature a string quartet too – used lightly, but nicely – bringing in some gentle tones that really fit the mood of the music, and further underscore some of the more personal sounds that are clearly Paolo's influence on the set.

Franco Ambrosetti is hailed among Europe's most prolific jazz trumpeters and the winner of numerous awards. 'The Wind' presents the trumpeter in a new surrounding, accompanied by the current trio of pianist Uri Caine. For the first time in 10 years Ambrosetti is the only horn player on one of his albums. Concentrating on the trumpet and fuelled by the cooking energy of the trio, Ambrosetti's playing radiates a power and youthfulness that betray his age, on tunes penned by himself, Caine, Sonny Rollins & Russ Freeman.

Very few, if any, attempts to merge classical music and jazz have succeeded. Somehow, jazz pianist Uri Caine's masterful and magnificent interpretations of selected works of the 19th century classical composer Gustav Mahler work remarkably well. Of course, it does not hurt to work with a stellar ensemble, including trumpeter Dave Douglas, violinist Mark Feldman, clarinetist Don Byron, and drummer Joey Barron, and turntable spinner DJ Olive, among others. However, it is Caine's clever arrangements that take the cake. He does not simply "jazz up" Mahler, which would mock the greatness of his works. Instead, he worms himself inside the songs and harmonies and uses them as a starting point to create a related, but new, synthesis of his music. Jewish folk melodies, cantorial renditions, free jazz, and classical violin are all merged in a whole that transcends the parts.

~Steve Loewy