Originally published in Jersey Jazz Magazine. Reprinted by permission of the New Jersey Jazz Society.
About 12 years ago, pianist Ted Rosenthal was approached about performing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue in a small venue. "I said, as a matter of fact, I've been thinking of coming up with a trio arrangement, so why don't we make this an occasion where we actually put a trio arrangement together for this concert."
That was about two years before Rosenthal released his Rhapsody in Gershwin trio album on the Playscape label. The album was featured by National Public Radio's Kevin Whitehead on the program, "Fresh Air" with the title: "Jazz Pianist Ted Rosenthal Has a Feel for Gershwin." Pointing out that, "Rosenthal reduces 'Rhapsody In Blue's' lush orchestration," Whitehead added that, "he also opens the piece up, making room for improvising and loosening up the rhythm. That's when these players really make the 'Rhapsody' their own and make it modern again. (The other members of the trio were bassist Martin Wind and drummer Tim Horner).
AllAboutJazz's Dan Bilawsky wrote that Rosenthal's trio "gives Gershwin's melodies, harmonies, and rhythms their due but applies transformative touches to all of them. The 17-minute 'Rhapsody in Blue' is the perfect example . . . Shifting roles, styles, and ideas enliven this performance of an oh-so-familiar classic."
At 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, October 19, Rosenthal, Wind, and Horner will play their trio versions of Gershwin at William Paterson University as part of its fall Jazz Room series. In addition to "Rhapsody in Blue", the album included seven other Gershwin tunes: "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off", "Fascinatin' Rhythm", "I Loves You Porgy", "They Can't Take That Away From Me", "Strike Up the Band", "Someone to Watch Over Me", and "Love Walked In".
Will there be any surprises on October 19? "We might break out a newer arrangement of S'Wonderful'. It's an arrangement that hasn't actually been recorded yet. I've been doing 'Strike Up the Band' for years," he added. "I remember doing it with (bassist) George Mraz and (drummer) Terry Clarke. We were the trio backing up (vocalist) Helen Merrill, and we would have a trio moment in the show."
This past summer, Rosenthal recorded four different albums on his TMR Music label, spreading their release over several months. "I hadn't released a trio CD since the Gershwin CD," he explained, "and I had lots of material." Two of the recordings were reviewed by Joe Lang in the September issue of Jersey Jazz: High Standards, released in March, and The Ted Rosenthal Songbook, released in June. "These albums," Lang wrote, "illustrate the versatility of Rosenthal's musical imagination." High Standards includes such American Songbook classics as Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" and Burton Lane's "Old Devil Moon". The Ted Rosenthal Songbook features Rosenthal compositions, leading off with his opera, Dear Erich.
Rosenthal likes to mix and match between two bass and drum combinations -- the aforementioned Wind and Horner and bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Quincy Davis. "I've had rich histories with both groups," he said. "Noriko and Quincy, and I have gone to Japan almost every year together. Martin and Tim, and I work together as a trio and with (vocalist) Ann Hampton Callaway. Sometimes, it could be Noriko and Tim or Martin and Quincy. They know my music, and they know my sensibilities."
The third new album, to be released this month, is called Classics Reimagined, jazz interpretations of classical music selections. "I decided a few of the pieces on this album would be more effective with another voice in addition to the trio." Those other voices will be clarinetist Ken Peplowski and violinist Sara Caswell. "Ken and I have done some of these things for years, off and on. He has an incredible clarinet sound and technique and enjoys classical music proper. The same thing with Sara Caswell, who I first met as a student of mine at the Manhattan School of Music. She's also had serious classical training. So, we've collaborated a few times over the years as well. We're going to be doing a concert on November 28 at Tanglewood. Ken was unavailable, so Anat Cohen will be joining us on clarinet to do my Classics Reimagined repertoire. That will be fun."
The last new album will be released in January. "It's called The Good Old Days, a collection of both originals and standards but with slightly older styles of jazz -- stride and swing and things like that."
I first interviewed Ted Rosenthal about 11 years ago when I was working on my book, Jeru's Journey The Life and Music of Gerry Mulligan (Hal Leonard Books: 2015). He was the pianist in Mulligan's last quartet, which also included Dean Johnson on bass and Ron Vincent on drums. Mulligan's melodicism, Rosenthal told me, "was second to none. I think that's an echo of his composing and arranging tendencies."
Rosenthal has played with several other jazz giants including trumpeter Art Farmer, alto saxophonist Phil Woods, and saxophonist James Moody. Farmer, he said, was "a man of a few but well-chosen words, and maybe that applies to his trumpet playing as well. He was very thoughtful and intelligent but focused. It was just great to experience his persona.
"I filled in for Bill Mays and Bill Charlap a few times with Phil Woods, and I got to do a duo concert with him at Wesleyan University. He had such amazing energy, intensity, and fire to his playing. He was just a force of nature."
Rosenthal did a couple of short tours with Moody. "I was just sitting there with a big grin on my face the whole time. How great he played, and he was also very much an entertainer, but in the best sense of the word."
In June 2023, Rosenthal led a trio, with Ueda and drummer Zach Adleman, at the New Jersey Jazz Society's Jersey Jazz LIVE! concert series in Madison, NJ, opening with two familiar standards – Richard Rodgers’ “People Will Say We’re in Love” and the previously mentioned “Skylark”. He demonstrated his ability to blend classical music and jazz, performing two pieces from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 “bebop style”. The concert also included music from Dear Erich and a stirring medley from a 2006 Venus Records album featuring music from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. Among the songs: “Shall We Dance”, “I Have Dreamed”, and “Getting to Know You.”
William Paterson concerts are held in the Shea Center for Performing Arts at 300 Pompton Road in Wayne. Concerts begin at 3:00 p.m. For tickets or additional information, visit wp-presents.org, or contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973.720.2371 or [email protected]
The New Jersey Jazz Society is a non-profit organization of business and professional people, musicians, teachers, students and listeners working together for the purpose of advancing jazz music. Their mission is to promote and preserve America’s original art form – jazz. The Society seeks to ensure continuity of the jazz art form through its commitment to nurture and champion local talent, along with showcasing outstanding national and international artists providing for the younger generation via arts education programs.
TOP PHOTO: From left, Martin Wind, Ted Rosenthal, Tim Horner.
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