Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Zvonimir Tot's Jazz Stringtet: Sarabande Blue

5

Zvonimir Tot's Jazz Stringtet: Sarabande Blue

By

View read count
Zvonimir Tot's Jazz Stringtet: Sarabande Blue
Guitarist Zvonimir Tot says there are two things he knows something about, classical composition and jazz. He combines those two bodies of knowledge in his presentation of Sarabande Blue. The Serbian-born and now Chicago-based guitarist collaborated with a "string quintet" for the outing, adding the bass of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Robert Kassenger to a string quartet, in addition to his own guitar.

Much of the music is through-composed; some is improvised—Tot is a jazz guy. All of it carries the elegant gleam of top level musicianship and meticulous tune-smithing on a set of (almost) all Tot originals.

Opening with "Groove Me Wah," the sound has a sweeping polish of the string quartet punctuated by Tot's tangy guitar, anchored by the rich pizzicato bass notes from Bob Kassinger. The tune has an exploratory vibe—vivacious, with an expressive fluidity and infectious momentum.

"Aneri—Lament" has a luscious, brooding beauty, with Tot laying down notes like a blues player over the string washes, while the title tune exudes an old-world melancholy, and "Fuga Longa, Vita Brevis" could be mistaken—to the untrained ear—for a work by Johann Sebastian Bach. "Blue Quest" evokes images of a lithe woman in a flowing gown, in a twirling ,dance across an empty dance floor through beams of bright sunlight shining through the windows, with gorgeous and intricate string interplay from the quartet which gives way to Tot's after-hours-at-the-jazz club solo floating on cushioning harmonies.

The album closes on a searching and rapturous note with the Bossa Nova "Brother Nicolau," a tune which moves back and forth between energetic and introspective moods, closing out a compelling set of jazz/classical sounds.

Track Listing

Groove Me Wah; Aneri - Lament; Sarabande Blue; Fuga Longa, Vita Brevis; Bruce's Dilemma; Voda Zvira; Blue Quest; Maki (Guts & Glory); Fugue For Mr. N.P; Brother Nicolau.

Personnel

Album information

Title: Sarabande Blue | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Groove Art Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.