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Dietro alla sigla Quartetski Does Prokofiev in verità si cela un quartetto di jazzisti condotto dal contrabbassista/arrangiatore Pierre-Yves Martel che intende non solo offrire un tributo alla musica del grande compositore russo ma anche proporne una eccitante esplorazione. Perché, se proprio la vogliamo dire tutta, ogni tributo che si rispetti non deve riprodurre ma, riscrivendo, indicare nuovi approdi!
In effetti Martel si insinua del pentagramma prokofiefano esaltandone i silenzi, frammentandone i fraseggi, marcandone le melodie, sfumandone i cromatismi. Fin dall’iniziale Lentamente si può godere della peculiarità di questo dischetto: cioè gli impasti fiatistici tra la tromba di Gordon Allen e i sax/clarinetti di Philippe Lauzier (di cui abbiano dato conto del bell’esordio in trio qualche tempo fa) in bilico tra situazioni armoniche variegate e ben colorate dai piatti del percussionista Isaiah Ceccarelli. Un’atmosfera allarmante che si tuffa nella felpata partitura dell’ Andante mentre il contesto bandistico-destrutturato del Molto giocoso rivitalizza l’ascoltatore forse immalinconito da questa rilettura così rigorosa e borderline. Se l’Allegretto I trasuda di rinnovata energia, Con eleganza pare riscrivere certe pagine del tardo Stravinsky mentre Commodo (così nel titolo) riecheggia certo radical-jazz per fiati soli. Allegretto tranquillo, grazie al pastoso contrabbasso di Martel, disegna una sorta di ballata silente che contrasta ferocemente con l’atmosfera felliniano-circense di Ridicolosamente. Molto bello, poi, il sincopato contrappuntismo di Con vivacità così come l’andamento dolente (quasi funeralesco) di Assai moderato.
Con la speranza che quelle del Quartetski Does Prokofiev non siano visioni fuggitive ma inaugurino un nuovo modo di rileggere il nostro passato.
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press@3618
Wie klingt Prokofiev als Jazz? Quartetski Does Prokofiev führt es vor. Der Kontrabassist Pierre-Yves Martel hat Visions fugitives op. 22 (AM 171), genauer, 18 der 20 Klavierminiaturen, die Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953) 1917 geschriebenen hat, umarrangiert für ein Jazzquartett mit Gordon Allen an der Trompete, Isaiah Ceccarelli am Schlagzeug und Philippe Lauzier an Alto- & Sopranosax und Bassklarinette. Angeregt von Gedichten seines Landsmannes Konstantin Balmont, der mit der Zeile “In jeder flüchtigen Vision erblicke ich Welten Erfüllt vom Wechselspiel der Regenbogenfarben” auch den Titel inspirierte, konnte Prokofiev zeigen, dass er neben seinen sarkastischen und motorischen Fähigkeiten auch lyrisch komponieren konnte. Höchst abwechslungsreich und typisch pluralistisch springt die Musik von heiteren (Con vivacità) zu burlesken (Ridicolosamente), von süßen (Con una dolce lentezza) zu fröhlichen (Allegretto), von wilden (Feroce) zu gramerfüllten (Dolente) Stimmungen. Die meisten kennen von Prokofiev die pathetischen Eisenstein-Soundtracks zu Aleksander Nevsky (1938) und Iwan der Schreckliche (1942-44) oder Peter und der Wolf op. 67. Die Flüchtigen Visionen galten unter Stalins Kulturfuchtel als entartete Werke des Künstlers als junger Affe. Quartetski präpariert genau das als Witz und ‘Jazz’ an der Sache heraus, betont Prokofievs freches, quasi schauspielerisches Umspringen mit ‘Gefühlen’, kostet das Groteske (Inquieto) genau so genüsslich aus wie alle anderen bewusst illusionistischen Momente. Das Marmor zerspringt, der Kalk rieselt und Musik von beträchtlicher Sophistication wird hörbar.
blogue@press-3555
press@3555
Quartetski Does Prokofiev is a jazz quartet. Bassist Pierre-Yves Martel arranged the Visions fugitives‚ of Prokofiev for a jazz quartet. Other members of this quartet are Gordon Allen (trumpet), Isaiah Ceccarelli (drums) and Philippe Lauzier (alto and soprano sax, bass clarinet). If I didn’t know, I could not have guessed that these compositions are by the hand of Prokofiev or any other composer from this era. This implies that the original music must be very suitable for being transposed to a modern jazz context, or that the arranger and the quartet are very creative in doing so. Probably both are true. In 18 short pieces — most of them about 3-4 minutes — the quartet explores and revives the originals that are even shorter. Prokofiev composed them during the Russian Revolution for piano. They remained at the stage of musical ideas, but prove to be very fitting starting points for improvisation for this very capable quartet.
blogue@press-3549
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Pierre-Yves Martel’s arrangement of 18 of Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives is an interesting new look at the music of Prokofiev through jazz and improvised music’s perspective. In the past many have tried to arrange Visions fugitives for different ensembles because the tunes of Visions lend themselves easily to adaptation. They are well suited for jazz music because of their colourful, percussive and polytonal nature. One could assume that this is a jazz adaptation because of the instruments involved like double bass, saxophones (soprano, alto, bass clarinet), drum-set, and trumpet. However the musicians rarely venture out into a free improvised jazz world. This kind of approach could be heard just a few times like on tr.2 Andante, tr.14 Dolente or tr.16 Con una dolce lentezza where the music is slow enough to give rise to an improvised jazz-style imagination.
With all this said, the freely improvised element of the album is the strongest despite many sources of inspiration that the music of Prokofiev and the jazz backgrounds of the musicians bring into play. The arrangements themselves stay very true to the original piano music allowing the improvisations to come in once the musical thoughts of Prokofiev have been expressed in their almost full content. This allows the musicians to have a comfortable space for their own improvisations. A few times the free instrumental improvisations take place before the piece or in the middle. I particularly like when they happen in the middle, allowing for a space between the old material and the new, a retrospective look at the music of Prokofiev. Though the arrangements are directly taken from Prokofiev, the rest of improvisations are all musicians’ creations. The bassist Pierre-Yves Martel, drummer Isaiah Caccerelli, trumpeter Gordon Allen and saxophonist Philippe Lauzier have worked together on many free improvised music sessions, they are all well-known musicians within Montréal’s free-improvised music scene. Thus making improvised music together comes as a very natural activity for these musicians and it is not surprising that they find themselves together in this project initiated by Pierre-Yves Martel.
Musically, some improvisations grow out of musicians’ thoughts, sometimes having almost nothing to do with the music of Prokofiev that came before. Especially when it is very free and effect inspired. This approach works very well for Con vivacità, where the free improvisations take the listener away into another musical universe just to be brought back by a slower section of the piece lead by the double bass. It also works well on Assai moderato and Feroce. An introductory improvisation suits the beginning of Inquieto, which has two improvisations each very different from another. The album is very poetic especially when a solo instrumental improvisation sets the tone. One has to listen to Pierre-Yves Martel on the bass in the solo sections of the album to catch this poetic quality. Gordon Allen’s improvisations are full of satire and poetry as well. Isaiah’s tumbrel drumming helped by many different kinds of drumming sticks adds a lot to the jazz feel and tone of the Visions, giving the ensemble an invitation to indefinite-pitch explorations. While Philippe Lauzier demonstrates fine soprano saxophone playing with a tone that is both light and playful adding a theatrical element to the Visions and bringing the original material into a sharper focus. There are some beautiful ensemble moments like on tr.17 Allegretto II, perhaps due to a broken-up piece segment structure alternated by improvisational segments, keeping our attention focused on improvisations to come.
blogue@press-3523
press@3523
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) fra espatrii, ritorni, stroncature feroci e medagli al valore trovò il tempo di scrivere molte pagine di musica da camera tra cui si possono ritenere i quartetti per archi, i Sarcasmi op. 17 e le Visioni fuggitive op. 22, in origine pensate per il pianoforte, ma spesso e volentieri trascritte nella seconda metà del Novecento per ampi ensemble. Il Quartetski di Gordon Allen (tromba), Isaiah Ceccarelli (batteria), Philippe Lauzier (sax e clarinetti) e Pierre-Yves Martel (contrabbasso) va ancora un passo oltre e si lancia in una rivisitazione jazzistica. Della composizione originaria, scritta da Prokofiev nel 1917, non proprio un anno qualunque, rimane l’agitazione di fondo, la sovversione ritmica, i fitti cambiamenti di colore e umore, resi dal Quartetski con molta attenzione e partecipata adesione. Il suono d’insieme non è mai esageratamente ostico e in particolare la tromba si ingegna di isolare gli attimi di introspezione onirica. In sostanza, esperimento riuscito, ma non abbiamo ben compreso perché anziché venti, come dovrebbero essere, i quadretti prokofieviani sono solo diciotto. (7/10)
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Les Visions fugitives de Sergei Prokofiev, pour piano, forment un ensemble de 20 courtes pièces très introspectives dont certaines, fugitives indeed, ne durent qu’une vingtaine de secondes. Le contrebassiste et directeur musical de l’ensemble Quartetski, Pierre-Yves Martel, a choisi de transcrire ce recueil pour l’interpréter avec son quatuor de jazz contemporain. Comme un peintre qui aurait trouvé un carnet de croquis et choisi de poursuivre la démarche de son prédecesseur, Martel redessine, augmente et colore les esquisses, sans pourtant cesser de respecter le trait personnel du compositeur russe.
Martel a évité les pièges rencontrés par Rudolf Barshai et Roman Balashov lors de leur transcription pour orchestre, dans laquelle, c’est le moins que l’on puisse dire, le côté introspectif de l’oeuvre en prenait pour son rhume (voir Les Solistes de Moscou et Yuri Bashmet, chez Onyx Records, 2007). Transcrit pour trompette (Gordon Allen), batterie (Isaiah Ceccarelli), saxophones ou clarinette basse (Philippe Lauzier) et contrebasse, l’univers de Prokofiev ne perd pas au change, bien au contraire; les passages improvisés ou les techniques de jeu modernes qu’emploient les musiciens n’interfèrent jamais avec le projet du compositeur, mais l’actualisent.
Pourquoi Martel a-t-il choisi de ne transcrire que 18 des 20 pièces, et pourquoi le disque ne nous les présente-t-il pas dans l’ordre habituel? L’absence de livret ne nous aide évidemment pas à répondre à ces questions, mais après avoir transformé jusqu’aux molécules des mélodies, ajoutant près de quarante minutes de musique à l’ensemble, le transcripteur aura peut-être voulu pousser encore plus loin son appropriation du carnet de croquis. Cela apparaît à l’écoute comme parfaitement légitime, et l’interprétation de Quartetski, qui livre la substance de l’oeuvre dans un souffle des plus personnelles, est pleinement justifiée par les vers de Constantin Balmont que Prokofiev plaçait en exergue à la partition:
«Tout ce qui est fugitif me fait voir des mondes
Pleins de jeux chatoyants et changeants»
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