Classical Jazz Quartet | Plays Bach
The Classical Jazz Quartet is an all-star group of modern jazz musicians who exclusively play classical music adapted to the jazz format. On this album, it’s all music by J. S. Bach.
Classical music and jazz music have intersected almost since the beginning of jazz music, but it’s easy to get this formula wrong. If you stick too closely to the classical side of things, you end up just playing a reinstrumentation of a classical tune with a bass and drums - getting it right requires that you respect jazz’s need for improvisation to succeed, and this album hits that mark very well. While the melodies of the original compositions are respected, the CJQ isn’t afraid to change the rhythm up or to abandon the melody completely to create an interesting space for solos. This is definitely one of the better classical/jazz crossovers I’ve heard, up there with Fred Hersch’s Red Square Blue.
