Caine Ensemble, Uri

Plays Mozart

Label: Winter & Winter Country: Germany

I'll be the first to admit that jazz's treatment of classical music has a bad rap. To my mind, it's not so much the "stuffiness" of the latter genre as it is the tendency to simply take a classical composition and "make it swing." What separates Uri Caine's work from other efforts is his ability to take the music to unique, inventive places while maintaining the integrity of the original piece. For this project-which was commissioned for Mozart's 250th birthday-Caine brings a cadre of tremendous players who share his penchant for shattering barriers.

Caine uses Mozart's "Piano Sonata in C Major" as his touchstone. Most listeners relate this piece to either Bugs Bunny cartoons or fifth-grade piano recitals, so the opening figure has the potential to generate both pleasure and horror. Once the melody is established, though, the unaccompanied Caine takes off on improvisational runs that tell the listener, "This ain't your grandfather's classical music!" Caine revisits the piece twice more-as a mid-disc resting place, and as the project's denouement. In between these moments is one long, strange, event-filled trip.

"Symphony #40 in G Minor (1st Movement)" unfolds like a surrealistic opera, thanks to a truly eclectic instrumental mix: Between Nguyên Lê's wild feedback, DJ Olive's otherworldly samples, and the swirling harmonic created by the bowing of Drew Gress and Joyce Hammann, you find yourself in the heart of a deep, dark, threatening forest filled with unnamed shadows and unbridled foreboding. Then Hammann introduces the original melody, and you are transported out of the woods and into a bright, sunny (and slightly chaotic) chamber concert. You don't stay long, though, as Caine sends the ensemble sailing in another dizzying direction with a solo that is both swinging and avant garde.

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Plays Mozart is not for everybody, and the recording requires complete attention in order to fully appreciate it. If you're willing to make the effort, though, you'll hear the work of a master brilliantly revived by a great and kindred spirit. Classical music is "stuffy"? Stuff that!"-J Hunter, All About Jazz