The Big Screen trio joyfully explores the worlds of stage and screen, swinging through a selection of timeless melodies which enjoy universal appeal.
A heavyweight of British jazz, pianist David Newton is joined for this project by Tom Farmer (from Empirical), who has a contemporary approach to bass playing, and Matt Skelton, whose virtuoso drum skills keeps everything moving nicely. David Newton has always thrived on playing material that brings new challenges to his improvisation and he has gone out of his way to do so for this new trio. There is an emotional and visceral joy when hearing these tunes rendered with the care, intellect, passion and excellence that Big Screen bring to the music. The impressive line-up of Big Screen play the music with a finely-tuned sense of taste and swing.
Opening with a playful rendition of the small-screen theme ‘Bewitched’, most of the action takes place on the big screen with ‘Heather On The Hill’ conjuring up images of Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse, whilst Toy Story 2’s ‘When She Loved Me’ is haunting in its stark simplicity. From My Fair Lady, ‘Get Me To The Church On Time’ features a spectacularly successful conjuring of Oscar Peterson and Keith Jarrett whilst ‘On The Street Where You Live’ is straight-ahead swing. Oscar Hammerstein also enjoys good representation on this album with ‘Hello Young Lovers’ and ‘Old Man River’, both a much-loved part of movie musical history.
Piano trios are the most perfect of improvisatory ensembles: rhythm section and soloists all in one package, capable of playing any songs from the jazz canon as well as from the world of popular music. and while jazz has often turned to Tin Pan alley for its musical inspiration, the worlds of Broadway and cinema offer timeless melodies that enjoy universal appeal, with a library that grows year after year. Because so many of us live out our fantasies in film as well as score our own lives and daily moments with music from the cinema, there is an emotional and visceral joy when hearing these tunes rendered with the care, intellect, passion and excellence that the Big Screen brings to the music.
Who are the musicians in the Big Screen? They are players who ‘get’ what this music is about. They honour the composers and filmmakers intentions while playing the music with a finely tuned sense of taste and swing. and this jazz trio does swing. Plus they know how to use space. If you detect a good amount of reverence for artfulness and for these songs – and what these songs mean to so many people – then you ‘get’ it too.
And now a few words about the music:
The theme for the american television show Bewitched (okay, this is a cheat – a small screen tune, but it’s such a delightful choice – who cares?) was composed by Howard Greenfield and lyricist Jack Keller, who viewed the pilot for the show while they were writing in Tin Pan alley. The producers of Bewitched originally wanted to use the Frank Sinatra recording of the tune ‘Bewitched’ but didn’t want to pay for that, so they asked Greenfield and Keller to come up with something in less than a week. The demo became the theme song and the show became a smash. Series composer Howard Barker did the instrumental arrangement that’s heard on the show, with the xylophone signature for Samantha’s trademark nose-twitch being incorporated in the theme. That same sense of playfulness pervades the Big Screen’s performance, with Skelton’s brushes providing a signature percussive touch. ‘We caught a lot of the action musically,’ Barker said, ‘and because things happened so fast on the show, most of the music cues were very short. If we had a cue that lasted ten to fifteen seconds, that was a long piece of music’. Thankfully, this version lasts a full 3 minutes and 46 seconds.
‘Chariots of Fire’. This performance is notable for its restraint as well as merciful lack of throbbing synthesiser bass notes. The re-harmonization is brilliant, and I love the mood that the trio achieves and maintains. It’s also easy to appreciate the beauty of the piano and the space where this album was recorded.
My Fair Lady has enjoyed a number of jazz renderings including Oscar Peterson, Shelly Manne (with andre Previn and Leroy Vinegar), Billy Taylor and the Johnny Richards Orchestra. (Oh yeah, the trio I shared with alan Pasqua and the late Dave Carpenter also recorded a tune from that show.) Meanwhile, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better version of ‘Get Me To The Church On Time’ than this one by mssrs. Skelton, Farmer and Newton. The uncanny and spectacularly successful conjuring (or conjoining) of Oscar Peterson and Keith Jarrett is, quite simply, a joy to behold. ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’ is, simply, loverly. ‘On The Street Where You Live’ is straight-ahead swing (with a sly nod to ahmad Jamal as well as ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ by pianist Newton).
Brigadoon began as a Broadway musical in 1947 (opening in London’s West End in 1949) and wound up becoming a cinema movie and a television movie as well. The best-known song from the Lerner and Loewe score is ‘Almost Like Being In Love’, but I’d argue that ‘Heather On The Hill’ is the loveliest. Gorgeous. You can almost see Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse holding hands and then dancing amidst the heather when you listen to this. By the way, if you’ve never seen this dance sequence, you must. The MGM film production (with orchestra conducted by Johnny Green) is stunning.
Oscar Hammerstein enjoys good representation on this album with ‘Hello Young Lovers’ (co-written with Richard Rodgers for The King and I) as well as ‘Old Man River’ (co-composed with Jerome Kern for 1936’s Showboat). Even though My Fair Lady, The King and I and Showboat all began as Broadway musicals, they are now part of movie musical history.
Legacy and inspiration are not found in old movies alone! Randy Newman (of ‘old movie’ lineage and fame — the paternal side of his family includes three uncles who were noted Hollywood film-score composers: alfred Newman, Lionel Newman and Emil Newman) is a songwriter and pianist who transitioned into the world of film, scoring over thirty films and receiving twenty Oscar-nominations (winning two for ‘Best Original Song’). ‘When She Loved Me’, from Toy Story 2, is haunting in its stark simplicity. The Big Screen captures the americana feel of the song while embracing and embodying the best of the European piano trio aesthetic and ethos. If I may say so, this approach sounds refreshingly familiar to these ears…
When Skelton asked me to give a listen to his new recording and consider penning a few words, I agreed as a friend and because I respect his work so much. But now, having spent time with this album, the recording itself has become like a friend to me, and I find myself listening to it time and time again. Only a great recording will draw the listener back to it like this.
Skelton also told me, ‘We recorded at a house by the sea in Eastbourne!! Our gracious host is a patron of the arts and owns a beautiful Steinway Model D. We recorded in two periods of an afternoon – evening’. Only a great trio can accomplish such a feat. a house by the sea and a Steinway D doesn’t hurt matters.
In sum, this is a wonderful recording, filled with wonderful tunes played by wonderful musicians, on wonderful instruments and captured by wonderful microphones engineered by a man with wonderful ears and the good sense to allow the instruments to speak for themselves. © Peter Erskine, 2015
Recording information:
Recorded at David Long’s House, Eastbourne, UK 4 and 5 November 2013 and 25 March 2014
Produced by Matt Skelton, David Newton, Tom Farmer and Chris Traves
Recorded and engineered by Chris Traves
Post-production by Philip Hobbs and Chris Traves
Design by gmtoucari.com
Photographs by Brian Sweeney
Link: here