インプレッションズ・オヴ・ドビュッシー

ジェレミー・シスキンドによるドビュッシーの大胆なジャズ・アレンジ!

ドビュッシーの前奏曲集に収録されている小品を、原曲の演奏の後にジェレミー・シスキンドによるソプラノ・サクソフォンとピアノのジャズ・アレンジ版で演奏するという興味深いアルバム。ジェレミー・シスキンドは1986年アメリカ出身の若手コンポーザー・ピアニストで、クラシックとジャズの革新的な融合で話題を呼んでいます。このドビュッシーの編曲も単なるトランスクリプションでは全くなく、"Reimagine(再構築、再解釈)"と定義し、即興も交えた全く新しい姿のドビュッシーに生まれ変わらせています。原曲の演奏はアメリカの女流ピアニスト、ロリ・シムズが担当し、アレンジ版はカナダのサクソフォン奏者アンドルー・ラスバンと、ジェレミー・シスキンド自らがピアノを演奏しています。
東京エムプラス

Performance of classical pieces in a jazz mode goes back to the beginning of jazz and even further, to the practice of ragging the classics. Bach, with the regular harmonic rhythm of Baroque music, has been a favorite in this regard, but Debussy, with his unique scales, has also made an impact on, most famously but not exclusively, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis. Heres a fresh take on Debussy from pianist Jeremy Siskind and saxophonist Andrew Rathbun. One novel aspect of the album is that the nine originals are present, straightforwardly played by pianist Lori Sims. This is important because the improvisations of Siskind and Rathbun do not simply take Debussys general mood, themes, and collections of pitches as a starting point, but elaborate on Debussys compositions as they proceed. Some of the improvisations stay close to Debussys structures; others, especially Siskinds, depart more, but the web of references in all cases is detailed. The nearest comparison is Dan Tepfers treatment of Bachs Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, some years ago, but Tepfers improvisations matched the original variations in length; these are larger in scope. Often Siskind begins with free material that brings to mind not jazz but a classical musicians improvisations of the old days, later he introducing jazz rhythms. This is a genuinely novel idea, and the whole album revives the somewhat moribund genre of jazz-classical fusion.