Jazz Musicians Play Classical…
I had an interesting exchange via Twitter the other day after listening to “CD Review” on BBC Radio 3. The programme included a few examples of Opera singers trying – and, in my opinion, failing – to sing like Jazz singers.
I was reminded of this discussion last night when I got home to find a lovely Clarinet sonata by Poulenc being played. It turns out that this piece was commissioned by none other than the “King of Swing”, clarinetist Benny Goodman.
I love both Jazz and Opera, but attempts to mix the two very different genres are not often successful. Jazz and Classical music are rather like different languages and musicians are rather like poets: fully bilingual exponents who can perform their art in more than one tongue are few and far between. There are, however, notable exceptions to this rule if not among singers but among instrumentalists. I think this is largely because so many Jazz musicians are so unbelievably virtuosic on their instruments that they can play more-or-less anything they put their mind to.
Anyway, I thought I’d post a few examples of famous Jazz musicians who have proved that they can play Classical music well. Here’s the man Benny Goodman playing the Mozart Clarinet Quintet K. 581:
Wynton Marsalis playing a Haydn Trumpet Concerto:
Keith Jarrett playing the first movement of the Italian Concerto by J.S. Bach BWV971. I would have included his version of the Goldberg Variations, but it’s on harpsichord and therefore not allowed…
I’d like to hear any further suggestions of excellent performances of Classical repertoire by Jazz musicians, so feel free to comment through the box.
Follow @telescoper
In the Dark 
January 30, 2014 at 5:25 pm
The distinguished classical conductor
Andrew PreviewAndré Previn is also a noted jazz performer.January 30, 2014 at 6:20 pm
It’s worth saying that improvisation was expected from musicians up to the Baroque era – Bach himself was a very accomplished improviser. The basic idea of most music is “theme and variation” and this is common to Jazz and Classical forms. The difference is really more to do with that special indefinable something that Jazz possesses. Yehudi Menuhin loved to play with Stephane Grappelii, but great musician though he was, he simply couldn’t play Jazz no matter how hard he tried. In the words of Duke Ellington “It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing…”
January 30, 2014 at 6:36 pm
Yes, and that improvisation continued through the classical period into the romantic era too. Soloists were expected to improvise cadenzas into the early 19th century. Beethoven was well-known for his piano improvisation. Bruckner used to do it on the organ through the 19th century, though I doubt he had any swing.
January 30, 2014 at 6:39 pm
I think it died out a bit with the arrival of really big orchestras and the emphasis on symphonies, but as you say concerti often had (and still do) have improvised cadenzas and of course there was more scope for improvisation in solo work. I believe Liszt also had a reputation for being adept at improvisation.
January 30, 2014 at 6:06 pm
Clarinettists Artie Shaw and today’s Eddie Daniels have also played and recorded classical pieces. Thank you for the interesting article!
January 30, 2014 at 9:50 pm
Eddie Daniels is great. I must post something by him sometime..
January 30, 2014 at 6:07 pm
Thanks Peter, it’s great getting all three of them going at once!
January 31, 2014 at 12:40 pm
Friedrich Gulda was a classical pianist strongly affected by jazz. There’s a distinctly jazzy approach in his recording of Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues.
January 31, 2014 at 2:59 pm
The classical guitarist Julian Bream is also an excellent jazz musician (jazz was his first musical love) but I don’t think he ever recorded any jazz.