Rhapsody in Blue Uri Caine Ensemble

• 1 Rhapsody in Blue 22:28
• 2 But Not for Me 03:56
• 3 Let's Call the Whole Thing Off 03:52
• 4 I Got Rhythm 03:17
• 5 I've Got a Crush On You 05:11
• 6 They Can't Take That Away from Me 06:44
• 7 Slap That Bass 03:25
• 8 Love Is Here to Stay 02:59
• 9 How Long Has This Been Going On 06:07
• Total Runtime 57:59

Info for Rhapsody in Blue

The artistic dialogue of Uri Caine with the oeuvre of George Gershwin is overdue. Caine and Gershwin are not only connected by the Jewish East European origin of their families, but also through New York City, the centre of their creative output.

They both draw from the ‚Big Apple’, compose, direct from the piano ground-breaking projects and range between classical music and jazz. Caine chooses Gershwin’s outstanding masterpiece „Rhapsody in Blue“ as the core piece of his new interpretations and fulfills this amazing opus with the spirit of a new path and renewal of jazz, intoxicating rhythms, which have reached the American continent from Africa and not least the melodies that the klesmer played more than hundred years ago in the homeland of their fathers.

The voices Barbara Walker and Theo Bleckmann who sing together 'Let's Call the Whole Thing Off' in a touching duet belong to Uri Caine’s ensemble as well as Joyce Hammann on violin, Jim Black on drums and Mark Helias on bass; fantastic musicians who are part of Caine’s close circle since many years. The song 'How Long Has This Been Going On' is presented by Uri Caine as an hommage to the great George Gershwin as a piano solo piece. Caine and Gershwin write and play truthful American music, which conquers the world and inspires.

Uri Caine, piano
Barbara Walker, vocals
Theo Bleckmann, vocals
Joyce Hammann, violin
Mark Helias, bass
Chris Speed, clarinet
Ralph Alessi, trumpet
Jim Black, drums

Uri Caine
stammt aus Philadelphia und begann seine Klavierausbildung bei Bernard Pfeiffer. Er spielte zunächst in Bands von Philly Joe Jones, Hank Mobley, Johnny Coles, Mickey Roker, Odean Pope, Jymmie Merritt, Bootsie Barnes und Grover Washington. An der University of Pennsylvania studierte er Komposition bei George Rochberg und George Crumb. Er hat bereits 22 CDs unter seinem Namen eingespielt, darunter Aufnahmen als Trio und in Ensemblebesetzungen, die seine Arrangements von Mahler, Wag- ner, Beethoven, Bach und Schumann spielen. 2009 wurde er für The Othello Syndrome für einen Grammy nominiert. Zuletzt erhielt Uri Caine Kompositionsaufträge von der Wiener Volksoper, den Seattle Chamber Players, Relâche, dem Beaux Arts Trio, dem Kam- merorchester Basel, Concerto Köln und dem American Compos- ers Orchestra. 2003 war er Direktor der Musikbiennale in Venedig. In den letzten Jahren arbeitete Uri Caine mit den Gruppen von Don Byron, Dave Douglas, John Zorn, Terry Gibbs und Buddy DeFranco, Clark Terry, Rashid Ali, Arto Lindsay, Sam Rivers und Barry Alts- chul, der Woody Herman Band, Annie Ross, der Enja Band, Global Theory und den Master Musicians of Jajouka zusammen. Er trat sowohl bei zahlreichen Jazzfestivals auf wie dem North Sea Jazz Festival, dem Montreal Jazz Festival, dem Monterey Jazz Festi- val, dem JVC Festival, dem San Sebastian Jazz Festival und dem Newport Jazz Festival als auch bei Festivals für klassische Musik wie den Salzburger Festspielen, den Münchner Opernfestspielen, dem Holland Festival, dem Israel Festival, im IRCAM in Paris und bei Great Performers im Lincoln Center. In der Kölner Philharmonie war Uri Caine zuletzt im Februar 2002 zu hören.

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