Uri Caine

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.

Virtuosity of those two musicians is incredible to discover. They hitting heavy on beautiful standard "Dear Old Stockholm" with grace and gentleness but having guts to alternate harmony in dignified, balanced way. Uri Caine, as it is my second encounter with his artistry (I've only tried "ThePhiladelphiaExperiment"), astonished me with marvelous and complex technique of phrasing with left hand. The illusion (well…) of whole rhytmic section conveyed in his playing cannot be denied - couple of times I really forgot that there're only piano and trumpet. And this is the most tasteful of this album, how he can focus listeners' attention on his play with this wonderful rhythmic, but also so melodic (and bluesy…) approach.

These are mature talents, presented to the world by the Italian branch of Blue Note. It isn't necessary though, because Paolo Fresu and Uri Caine already have quite a name among jazz connoisseurs. They recently released the album Think and we can expect them to tap this source extensively.

Pianist Uri Caine holds a unique distinction, known the world over as a stellar jazz pianist, but a critics' darling for his genre-blind reworkings of classical music. His takes on the work of Gustav Mahler, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Wagner have become modern classics which straddle several musical worlds, but Caine's is no one-trick pony. When he isn't busy turning classical music history on its head, his restless artistic curiosity has taken him to a variety of other realms. The pianist tipped his hat to Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock, with album-length salutes to each, took a stroll down Tin Pan Alley (Winter & Winter, 1999), visited Brazilian music via Rio (Winter & Winter, 2001), explored the possibilities within the solo piano context on Solitaire (Winter & Winter, 2001), and tackled fusion in his own personal way with his Bedrock band.

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."

Uri Caine & Gustav Mahler - Dark Flame (2003) {Winter & Winter 910 095-2}
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© 2003 Winter & Winter | 910 095-2
Jazz / Classical / Modern Creative / Third Stream / Piano

In his time, European classical composer Gustav Mahler (b. 1860, d. 1911) had both his supporters and his detractors. Some people in Europe understood his work; some people didn't. And in the 21st century, the same thing can be said about Uri Caine, a risk taker who has been called everything from ultra-pretentious to a musical visionary. The latter, not the former, is accurate; Caine's jazz/Euro-classical experimentation has had its excesses at times, but dismissing him as pretentious or silly is unwarranted – and his pluses greatly outweigh his minuses.