Clark Terry with Jeff Lindberg and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra: Porgy & Bess

Utilizing Evans' charts, but with a slightly larger orchestra that features clarinets and an expanded trumpet section, Lindberg manages to treat Evans' arrangements with respect while avoiding the trap of being too literal. The sound of the orchestra is warmer, less brash than the original, which works especially well on the ballads including "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now." As much as the original held as both a collection of outstanding tunes and a more cohesive whole, this version may actually hang together a little better.

And what of Clark Terry? Well, for one thing, on the original recording Miles stayed exclusively with the flugelhorn, while here Terry uses both the flugelhorn and trumpet. On "Summertime" Terry uses a mute, but not the Harmon mute that became so synonymous with Davis' sound, rather one that is less piercing, a little warmer. And by using trumpet as well as flugelhorn he paints with broader strokes. That's not to say Terry is necessarily better than Miles in interpreting the material, but his blues-drenched readings are unquestionably equally valid.

You can hear why Terry was such an important figure to Miles in his early days. He shares the same sense of rich lyricism, avoiding pyrotechnic displays, instead reaching deep into the heart of the material. But more evident than anything else is the effect that a player's personality has on the way they interpret the music. Miles' reading of Porgy and Bess was dark and haunting. Terry, on the other hand, is more tender than melancholic, more poignant than brooding, and on "My Man's Gone Now" he demonstrates a pure joyfulness in his short solo that was nowhere to be found in Miles' readings.

Does this new version of Porgy and Bess have the potential to reach classic status? Hard to say, and only time will tell. Clearly any reinterpretation of the same charts means that the element of the new is gone. And for a story of misfortune, Miles' darker disposition may ultimately prove to be the most fitting. Still, Lindberg and Terry's revisiting sheds new light on a timeless piece of music and shows how approach is inextricably tied to disposition, where, amidst the tragedy, Terry's reading manages to be somehow more optimistic and hopeful.

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