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ONE WAY Recommends [Issue
#19]
Michel Camilo By
Scott Yanow
Rhapsody In Blue
(CD
Telarc)
Throughout his remarkably productive if too-brief life, George Gershwin straddled
and crossed all types of musical boundaries, from scores for shows, popular songs
and jazz to classical music. Michel Camilo started out his career playing
classical music, but developed into a brilliant bop-based improviser that has
often explored Latin rhythms. On this CD, Camilo is joined by the Barcelona
Symphony Orchestra for fresh versions of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue,”
“Concerto In F” and “Prelude No. 2.” Rather than just play
note-for-note recreations of the orchestrations, Camilo felt free to improvise
in spots while performing in the style of Gershwin. Most of what he plays
is from the written music, but since Gershwin’s original rendition of “Rhapsody
In Blue” (a colorfully primitive recording with Paul Whiteman’s orchestra
in 1924 documents the earliest version) has the pianist improvising in certain
sections, Camilo does the same, particularly halfway through the Rhapsody. “Prelude
No. 2” was written as a bluish piano solo and Camilo takes it unaccompanied,
improvising melodically. The results are lively, sincere and very musical, some
of the best recent versions of these Gershwin classics.
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