Shelly Berg, José Serebrier, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Gershwin Reimagined: An American In London (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:17:06 minutes | 1,27 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © UMC – Decca Gold
Gershwin Reimagined: An American in London features pianist Shelly Berg and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by José Serebrier, with special guest artists.
Produced by-Grammy Award-winning producer Gregg Field and recorded at the famed Air Lyndhurst Studios in London, the album is a sonically hi-def contemporary treatment of classic Gershwin pieces “Rhapsody in Blue,” “Fascinating Rhythm” “I Got Rhythm,” “Three Preludes,” “I Loves You Porgy/I’ve Got My Man Now,” and “American in Paris/Home Blues.”
It features virtuosic playing by the Shelly Berg Trio and Grammy-winning musicians Arturo Sandoval and Mark O’Connor, as well as vocal performances by Ledisi and Monica Mancini.
The title of this Decca Gold release is honest: Gershwin’s music is not delivered straight here, but is merely the stimulus for further creative activity. As such, the album will inspire reactions that depend heavily on the temperament of the individual listener, who may argue that the already high jazz content in Gershwin’s music permits such treatment, or on the other hand, that what is done here ignores a jazz/classical balance that is at the heart of Gershwin’s aesthetic. In most cases, pieces by Gershwin are presented with what American jazz pianist Shelly Berg, a professor at the University of Miami, calls “trio jazz variations,” which are interpolated into the music and take Gershwin’s tunes as a starting point. Alternatively, the jazzy Preludes for piano are orchestrated by the conductor, the octogenarian Uruguayan José Serebrier (and some will rightly want the album merely for his remarkable presence). Thus, Gershwin is pushed in both jazz and classical directions. It’s true that there are just a few accepted ways of performing Gershwin, and that he was ripe for reinterpretation; it’s also true that the question of jazz-classical fusion is a thorny one that is best approached by firing from several different directions. But sample around the Rhapsody in Blue to see how you feel about this approach, which may disturb rather than enhance the music’s flow. The orchestra involved is the Royal Philharmonic, and most of the orchestrations are by Berg himself. Of interest especially to listeners of an experimental cast of mind, who usually don’t get much thrown their way in connection with Gershwin.
Tracklist:
1-1. Shelly Berg, José Serebrier & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Rhapsody In Blue (23:31)
1-2. Shelly Berg, José Serebrier & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – An American In Paris / Home Blues (21:23)
1-3. Shelly Berg, José Serebrier & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – I Loves You Porgy / My Man’s Gone Now (07:21)
1-4. Shelly Berg, José Serebrier & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Fascinating Rhythm (04:45)
1-5. Shelly Berg, José Serebrier & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – Three Preludes (07:24)
1-6. Shelly Berg, José Serebrier & The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra – I Got Rhythm (12:40)
