CD REVIEW
– 'CLASSICAL
CHANGES'
ART DECO TRIO
SOMM CD0663
[73’03]
'
We discovered the
Art Deco Trio with their
impressive debut album 'Gershwinicity' a couple of years
ago, and here they are again in a
release that is largely fun from
beginning to end.
This time the
piano, clarinet and saxophone
combination perform pianist Iain
Farrington's dazzling
jazz-accented arrangements of a
dozen popular classical pieces,
three sea shanties and five
American/African spirituals.
So, here are the
likes of The Bite of the
Flumblebee (after
Rimsky-Korsakov), Valerie
Takes a Ride (after Wagner),
Elise's Blues (after
Beethoven), Arrival Revival
(after Handel), Jiffy Dance
(after Bizet), Hungarian
High-Five and 3am
Lullaby (after Brahms)
– other composers getting a
makeover are Elgar, Satie and
Vivaldi – What Shall We
Do with the Drunken Sailor, Sailor’s
Hornpipe, Amazing Grace,
Steal Away and Every
Time I Feel the Spirit.
The arranger
certainly succeeds in what he
writes in his explanatory booklet
notes of translating the work's
"original sober environment
into one that was more
intoxicated". And Messrs
Peter Sparks, Kyle Horch and
Farrington's playing throughout
these first recordings is
marvellous.
SOMM are a
renowned innovative label and
will surely put a smile on the
faces of a lot of listeners with
this album. Let us hope we do not
have to wait another two years
for a third ADT release.
© Peter
Burt 2023
Regular readers of
this feature will probably
remember the earlier CD for which
Peter and myself wrote reviews
back in 2021 (SOMM CD0632)
entitled 'Gershwinicity'.
On this brand-new
release, the brilliant members of
the Art Deco Trio are once again
'doing their stuff' with a very
varied programme spotlighting the
indisputable talents of the three
musicians.
Peter Sparks has
performed with several leading
British orchestras, both as
principal clarinettist and
concerto soloist, and is also
active in the field of wind
ensemble and chamber music. At
the time of writing, he plays
principal clarinet with English
National Opera.
Saxophonist Kyle
Horch plays on soprano alto, and
tenor instruments on different
tracks here. He maintains an
active career as a freelance
musician across a wide range,
including chamber, orchestral,
contemporary and light music. His
long and impressive list of
credentials includes saxophone
Professorship at London's Royal
College of Music, Visiting
Saxophone Consultant at
Birmingham Conservatoire and
saxophone teacher at Royal
Holloway College, University of
London.
The Trio's
pianist, Iain Farrington, pursues
a busy and diverse career as an
organist, pianist, composer and
arranger; it is he who made all
the ingenious arrangements. He
has performed at all major venues
in the UK – and overseas in
the USA, Mexico, Japan, South
Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong and
across Europe. Amongst his many
achievements are performances of
his own solo piano arrangements
of Mahler symphonies.
As Peter Burt
suggests above, their programme
is bound to get listeners smiling
from the very beginning –
not least because of the 'fun'
titles of the first twelve
tracks. I have hardly stopped
listening to it since my copy
arrived in the post !
I would also echo
Peter's remarks regarding SOMM
Records and its imaginative and
enterprising founder, Siva Oke,
who has once again produced what
I am certain will be another
winner !
© Tony
Clayden 2023
Stop Press -
Immediately after I had put the
finishing touches to this piece,
I happened to switch-on BBC Radio
Three's early evening broadcast,
'In Tune'. In the studio were
some 'live' performers, including
The Art Deco Trio, there to
promote this new CD. Iain
Farrington was interviewed by the
show's presenter, Sean Rafferty
and he spoke about the pieces and
arrangements, etc. Quite a
coincidence !!
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