Jazz Articles

Billy Childs Ensemble: Lyric: Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 1

by Renato Wardle
October 11, 2005

Since its birth, the world of jazz has been at odds with the realm of classical music. Owing to the presupposition that these two musical worlds are possessed of an incongruent aesthetic, a fusion between them may seem impossible. However, Lyric shows that music is music. With the first installment of his new Jazz-Chamber Music series, pianist Billy Childs fuses elements of jazz and classical music into a convincing, seamless whole.

The merging of jazz and classical music ...

Billy Childs Ensemble: Lyric: Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 1

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
October 8, 2005

Two questions come to mind when encountering Billy Child's intriguing, long-overdue new release. First, what exactly is “jazz-chamber music"? Is the “chamber music" part simply a function of adding classical instrumentation (strings, harp) or a reference to occasional resemblances to Bach and Satie and the French impressionists--or is it just a new banner flying over what used to be called the “third stream"?

Then, after listening to Lyric once or twice, a second question emerges: Why should we care what ...

Billy Childs Ensemble: Lyric: Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 1

by Dan McClenaghan
September 24, 2005

Los Angeles-based pianist/composer Billy Childs mixes the intimacy of classical European sounds with the spontaneity of American jazz in a creative style he terms “Jazz-Chamber Music." The instrumentation of Lyric tells its story: piano, accoustic guitar, reeds, bass and drums say “jazz"; harp, flute, oboe, bassoon and a string quartet say “classical."The harmonic layering that unfolds throughout--via the harp/piano/acoustic guitar mix--has an unusual and unusually lush and beautiful feeling beneath the classical colors of the ensemble. All the ...

Billy Childs Ensemble: Lyric: Jazz-Chamber Music Vol. 1

by John Kelman
September 16, 2005

It's a mystery why pianist Billy Childs hasn't received the kind of widespread acceptance from the greater jazz community that he deserves. He's a versatile player with experience in a variety of contexts--mainstream work with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, contemporary post bop with vibraphonist Joe Locke, arranging, orchestrating, and conducting Dianne Reeves' The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan... even pedal-to-the-metal fusion with guitar icon Allan Holdsworth.

Childs is a mature player with the same kind of complex improvisational mind as Brad Mehldau, ...