Classical and Jazz: Latest News > December 16
Published: 16 December, 2010
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
AN intriguing blend of jazz/classical music made its appearance in an impressive debut performance of the 13-piece Cervantes Ensemble last weekend at The Forge arts venue, Camden Town.
The ensemble was put together by Willesden jazz pianist/composer John Cervantes. It comprises the combination of jazz octet and classical string quartet with veteran saxophonist Stan Sulzmann as guest soloist on the night.
The jazz octet involves piano, trumpet, two saxophones, trombone, guitar, double-bass, drums and harp, while the string quartet is the standard line-up of two violins, viola and cello.
Music for the ensemble was composed by John Cervantes after he won a Musicians Benevolent Fund Development Award at the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award finals a year ago.
“I already had the idea in mind to work with string players but it was when I arrived at the Royal Academy of Music that it became possible to try out my ideas,” he says.
Innovative projects involving orchestral players are nothing new, of course. Kenny Wheeler, in particular, composed for jazz/classical musicians and the late Ian Carr mixed strings and jazz in his Northumbrian Sketches composition.
The Cervantes Ensemble produced an impressive, deeply textured sound when the strings played together with the jazz octet at the Forge. But not enough was made of the strings’ ability to feature in their own right or playing duets/trios with wind or brass instruments.
After all, you only have to listen to the great string quartets – and Schubert’s string quintet in particular – to appreciate that string playing had rhythm long before jazz came along.