ADAM BARUCH - The Soundtrack of my life

BARBARA BRUCKMULLER ~ A CHAIN OF MOMENTS

This is a 3CD album by Austrian composer / arranger / bandleader Barbara Bruckmuller, which presents her Suite in five Movements, called “A Chain Of Moments”. The suite is performed in three different arrangements, each on a separate CD. CD1 presents the suite performed by piano and a string quartet, with Cuban (resident in NY) pianist Aruan Ortiz. CD2 presents the suite performed by a Jazz sextet, which includes Ortiz, saxophonist Viola Falb, Polish trumpeter Kaya Meller, trombonist Mario Vavti, bassist Thatiana Gomes and drummer Howard Curtis. CD3 presents the suite performed by the Barbara Bruckmuller Jazz Orchestra & Strings, which also includes Ortiz and other local Jazz musicians, like saxophonist Tobias Hoffmann, trombonist Robert Bachner and the a.m. members of the sextet and the string quartet. All the music was recorded live, with the orchestra performing at the famous Porgy & Bess Club in Vienna and the smaller lineups at the MusikQuartier 1060 in Vienna.

The sheer scope of this project is truly impressive, requiring the composer / arranger to re-think the music in different environment, with the specific challenges and limitations in mind, all of which Bruckmuller does with incredible skills and obvious expertise. As a result, the listener is exposed to classic example of the differences between these three Jazz environments: Jazz-Classical, Jazz ensemble and Jazz Big Band. Although the music is obviously the same, it sounds quite different in these varied exposures, enabling an ideal comparative experience.

Ortiz, who is usually associated with the Avant-Garde Jazz scene, shows that he is perfectly capable of playing scores exactly as written, and his improvisational identity is most evident during the sextet performance, where he soloes extensively. But his contribution to this recording, in all three exposures, it absolutely outstanding and highly appreciated.

Of course the actual music, which we can enjoy, is the most important factor, which makes the entire experience so enjoyable and artistically fulfilling. Bruckmuller is a wonderful weaver beautiful melodic themes, as well as a skillful arranger, especially in the Big Band environment, and her work so far is really outstanding.

Overall, this is a highly ambitious and complex musical adventure, which presents a suite in three different Jazz environments, proving that great music sound wonderful in every milieu, when it is aesthetically sound and skillfully performed. I absolutely loved this album and highly recommend it to all Jazz fans, who love the flirt between Jazz and Classical Music, and of course the European Big Band Jazz sound. Well done Milady!