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Florian Ross: Tunes & Explorations

By Jack Bowers
October 17, 2022
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Variety and nostalgia are the essence of Tunes & Explorations, the twenty-second album by German-born composer/arranger

Florian Ross

composer / conductor
b.1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Florian Ross who observes his fiftieth anniversary by dipping into the Great American Songbook to revive and reshape for his splendid octet a number of luminous evergreens from the Golden Age of American music.

Ross underlines the contrast via jazz compositions from

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans ("Fun Ride") and

Horace Silver

piano
1928 - 2014

" data-original-title="" title="">Horace Silver (the closing "Sister Sadie") and his own groovy curtain-raiser, "Baking Magels." The rest is all GAS, starting with a tasteful arrangement of Johnny Burke/Jimmy Van Heusen's enchanting "It Could Happen to You," featuring Canadian trombonist

Craig Brenan

trombone

" data-original-title="" title="">Craig Brenan with pianist

Leon Hattori

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Leon Hattori and Austrian trumpeter

Bastian Stein

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Bastian Stein. Hattori, bassist

Dietmar Fuhr

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Dietmar Fuhr, drummer

Tobias Backhaus

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Tobias Backhaus and baritone saxophonist

Niels Klein

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Niels Klein are the only members of the ensemble from Gemany.

Klein's bass clarinet leads the way on Ross's sweet and lovely arrangement of "Sweet and Lovely," with other solos by Hattori, Irish tenor saxophonist

Matthew Halpin

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Matthew Halpin and Belgian guitarist

Eliott Knuets

guitar
b.2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Eliott Knuets who is showcased with Hattori on "Baking Magels." Stein's muted trumpet is front and center on

Fats Waller

piano
1904 - 1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose," preceding a muscular tenor solo by Halpin and persuasive drumming by Backhaus. Stephen Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" is lush and mellow, Jerome Kern's "Long Ago and Far Away" a fast-paced excursion for the ensemble with solos by Stein, Hattori and Knuets.

"If I Should Lose You," punctuated by Hattori's dancing piano, leads to the dreamy "Pure Imagination" (from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), featuring Stein's expressive trumpet, and Evans' cheerful "Fun Ride" (splendid solo by Knuets). Halpin and Brenan share the spotlight on a blues-rhumba version of "Sweet and Lovely," while Klein's resonant baritone is most conspicuous on Silver's high-spirited "Sister Sadie."

An admirable session, underscored by Ross's clever charts, emphatic blowing by the ensemble, and an exemplary choice of material. Deposit it in the "well done" file.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Baking Magels; It Could Happen to You: I Should Care; Honeysuckle Rose; Send In the Clowns; Long Ago and Far Away; If I Should Lose You; Pure Imagination; Fun Ride; Sweet and Lovely; Sister Sadie.

Personnel

Florian Ross

composer / conductor

Matthew Halpin

saxophone

Craig Brenan

trombone

Niels Klein

saxophone

Eliott Knuets

guitar

Dietmar Fuhr

bass

Tobias Backhaus

drums

Bastian Stein

trumpet

Additional Instrumentation

Leon Hattori: piano

Album information

Title: Tunes & Explorations | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Toy Piano Records

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