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Spooky Actions: Quartet for the End of Time
And so it's natural that the composer and his worksespecially this workhave had many admirers and no shortage of musicians eager to take on the challenge of playing it. A band called Spooky Actions has issued its take, "arranged for jazz quintet.
This attempt lacks everything but heart. No noticeable traits of jazz are heard, save the instrumentation (soprano saxophone, guitar, piano, bass and drums). While the piece is executed more or less as it was written, the altered instrumentation robs it of its intended effect and the unimaginative interpretation doesn't compensate for this loss with any fresh ideas. Although John Gunther's soprano sax almost suitably substitutes for clarinet, he falls far short of the subtle expressivity of violin. David Philips quixotically attempts to stand in for cello with bowed bass. And so forth.
By approaching the music straightforwardly, Spooky Actions sets itself up for comparison with the better classical recordings of the piece and by this standard comes off poorly to say the least. If a jazz band wants to play classical music, it'd better be good at it and then it wouldn't be likely to be a very good jazz band, would it? It's too bad Spooky Actions didn't realize this and either try to make Messiaen swing or simply try another idea.
Track Listing
Movement #1 - Liturgie de cristal; Movement #1 Improv; Movement #2 - Vocalise, pour l'ange qui annonce la fin du temps; Movement #2 Improv; Movement #3 - Abime des oisedux; Movement #4 - Intermede; Movement #4 Improv; Movement #5 - Louange a l'eternite de Jesus; Movement #6 - Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes; Movement #6 Improv; Movement #7 - Fouillis d'arcs-en-ciel, pour l'ange quiu annonce la fin du temps; Movement #7 Improv; Movement #8 - Louange a l'Immortalite de Jesus.
Personnel
John Gunther: soprano saxophone; Bruce Arnold: electric guitar; Tony Moreno: drums; David Phillips: bass; Aaron Jackson: piano
Album information
Title: Quartet for the End of Time | Year Released: 2006 | Record Label: Muse Eek
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