Search - Martial Solal :: Martial Solal Dodecaband Ellington

Excelente ensamble

Fernando Barahona M. | MIAMI, FLORIDA United States | 02/20/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Desde muy joven siempre he sido admirador de Duke Ellington, luego conocí la musica de Martial Solal en el disco Suite for Trio, y la verdad que me sorprendió la manera de interpretar de Martial Solal.Este disco es exquisito, sobre todo para aquellas personas a las que les agrada el jazz con un ensamble de metales, tiene un tratamiento un poco más completo que un big band, pero es agradable al escuchar, he escuchado detenidamente este disco unas 10 o 15 veces y en todas las ocaciones le encuentro sonidos y texturas diferentes que aparecen y que no los había sentido en audiciones anteriores.En mi opinión es una gran interpretación de Duke, con una ensamble de metales fenomenal, y una aparición de primera clase de Martial Solal, recomiendo su compra."

Outstanding, eclectic reinterpretations of Ellington

R. van Bakel | Maine, USA | 06/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I heard this music on my car radio one recent night, and became enthralled by the freshness and imagination evident in every phrase. There's no arguing about taste, but saying (as GLM does) that Solal and his band add nothing new to Ellington's well-worn repertoire is ... well, we must have been listening to different albums. Solal's reinterpretation of classic Ellington pieces is stunningly inventive. Some of these arrangements are more like entirely new compositions and as such barely needed to be credited to Ellington at all; Solal often uses an Ellington riff as a jumping-off point and then he and his band just joyfully run with it, turning the notes inside out until, 15 or 20 seconds later, the tune is wholly unrecognizable as an over-exploited jazz standard.



I could be imagining things, but I was strangely reminded of Frank Zappa when I heard the radio broadcast (I subsequently bought the CD and have now listened to it ten or so times). There's a frequent undercurrent of barely-under-control whimsical anarchy here that's reminiscent of some of Zappa's Varèse-inspired stuff during his 'Studio Tan' years.



Like the best of Carla Bley's and Paquito d'Rivera's orchestral work, this Martial Solal album is proof positive that big-band music doesn't have to be as hopelessly uncool as your grandfather's beloved barbershop records. On the contrary -- this is exciting, energetic, inventive, and yes, MODERN stuff that deserves a place of honor in any jazz aficionado's collection."