by Kevin T McEneaney
Last Sunday at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Kent, The Sherman Ensemble was transformed into a quintet with Julia Bailen adding vocals to a sophisticated program of jazz-inspired music, featuring creative new arrangements with excerpts from newalbums by pianist Ted Rosenthal and drummer Chris Parker. The concert was dedicated to two jazz greats on their hundredth birthday, Oscar Peterson and Mel Tormé.
They opened with Waltz in C-Sharp Minor by Frederick Chopin, in a jazz arrangement by pianist Ted Rosenthal. Rosenthal’s new album, Classics Reimagined: impromp2, features elements of Chopin’s composition reimagined as a samba with half-step key shifts that resemble a surrealistic rearrangement of notes that provided a welcoming invitation of wry, mischievous amusement.
That note-bending continued with “Nutty Freedom” by drummer Chris Parker, which blended two melodies by Thelonious Monk with a drum lead of the quintet. The title refers to the era of Monk’s Freedom Jazz Band. Parker’s rearranged drum acrobatics seduced the other four performers into the amusing nuttiness of inspired improvisation.
Ted Rosenthal’s re-arrangement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise,” a song written for high voice and piano to be sung on one vowel of the singer’s choice. This famous piece has enjoyed many incarnations and interpretations, in this case as a piano trio with flute accompaniment by Susan Rothoz and cello accompaniment by Eliot Bailen, the lead changing from piano to flute, then cello in two rounds with a triple finale. I found the arrangement to be a note beyond exciting!
“You Are the One Mr..” by Chris Parker was a quartet version of his trio on his new Naxos album with pianist Kyoko Oyobe who composed a homage to Chris, and Chris then composed a homage reply to Oyobe. Inside the work was a lovely double bass solo performed by Thomas Kneeland, while Rosenthal on piano gently accepted the role of being adored.
Rosenthal’s arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky’s “The Old Castle” movement from his famous Pictures at an Exhibition (originally a piano work) began on a somber, intimidating inflection and concluded with a mysterious atmosphere, enhanced by Susan Rotholz on flute and Eliot Bailen on cello, delivering an opaque and ambiguous atmosphere, which I interpreted as a homage lament to Kiev’s current wartime situation.
Rosenthal’s piano trio arrangement of Edward Elgar’s Salut d’Armour (1888) featured a stunning cello solo by Eliot Bailen and a lovely reply on flute by Susan Rotholz. This short, popular romantic piece was played (Elgar later composed three versions: piano, piano and violin, and orchestra) performed as a marriage proposal to Alice Roberts (who became Elgar’s wife). Rosenthal’s trio version (on his new album) may become the most popular version of all!
With a sincere and charming voice, Julia Bailen next sang three songs accompanied by the quintet: “When Sunny Gets Blue” by Marvin Fisher, “Too Darn Hot” by Cole Porter, and “The Christmas Song” by Mel Tormé and Robert Wells. Julia sang with deep emotion and sleek, artful phrasing as her father Eliot switched from cello to guitar.
Rosenthal’s arrangement of “Waltz in Ab” (loosely based on Chopin B-flat melody) was presented as a piano duo with clarinet on the new album, yet here performed as an upbeat swinging duo with Susan Rotholz on flute, playing with immaculate, sensational phrasing….
“Nigerian Marketplace” by Oscar Peterson appeared as a new arrangement by Thompson Kneeland that featured pass-the-hat solos for each instrument, offering that sweet taste of each distinctive instrument as a culinary repast/banquet!
The grand finale presented Ted Rosenthal’s famous smash hit, “Sunny Side Up,” with each player happily flipping their eggs to the taste of each of the five magical instruments while conjuring an omelet of contagious joy to usher in the joyous Christmas season!
