"Classic meets Jazz" vol. III

Every 3-4 years I am coming up with all sorts of ‘daring’ (I would call them) ideas and music(al ?) projects. Out of all kinds of plans, most of which will probably never be accomplished, there come such particular projects for smaller or bigger ensembles, out of an inner necessity. That’s exactly how this "Cultural Association 7 Dreams" from Brasov (Romania) was born in 2006 and together with Ana Maria Gavrila(Mariuka) we are striving to realise fairly special music(al ?) projects. I would have dreamt of becoming a conductor or (to be able).... to focus more on composing but,as life does not always let us choose what we want ,at least it gives us the possibility to achieve our goal(s) from time to time saying to(telling) us : ‘I don’t know if you had been happier…becoming only a conductor or a composer’! Therefore I appreciate these little gifts that I kindly and holly receive from that inner voice that tells me at the right time what path to choose. I believe we need to get to that point when we cannot have it another way rather than writing down our thoughts and feelings. We could associate them with the blossoming trees at spring as they don’t blossom every season, they need a whole cycle, they need the Earth’s ritual with its order and its harmony. The idea of this project "Classic meets Jazz"(I could also say "Classic needs...Jazz") is actually a cycle of works and CD recordings that started almost 25 years ago and that materialised in a few CD's and some orchestral pieces. It’s a  work in progress, from Duo to small jazz combos or orchestral works to such special cycle of pieces written by different composers for this special project. I’ve been collaborating on this with Maestro Sabin Pautza for the last few years performinging different pieces of symphonic jazz to the romanian audience , pieces written by composers such as Richard  Oschanitzky, Sabin Pautza,  George Gershwin, myself and many others and even accomplished first-performances of some orchestral works.  Regarding the jazz band I have worked with all these musicians on different occasions and groups but we have never played together. So now we are looking for(ward) to achieve an extraordinary goal : that of spontaneously  improvising and creating a dialog between the orchestra and the jazz combo. I’ve written a few hundreds of instrumental jazz tunes, I’ve then processed into(arranged) a dozen of masterpieces of international traditional music(folklore) and I’ve even dared ‘de-composing’ a few of my favourite composers such as: Bela Bartok, George Enescu, Erik Satie, Nicolae Coman, Mussorgski, György Ligeti and the list could go on and on.

I’m very happy for this great (particular) project and I want to thank everyone who had a contribution of any level to the success of this idea, of this fresh and original music, full of spirit.

Nicolas Simion

CD presentation date
22.03.2011 Kunst und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4, 53113 Bonn
www.bundeskunsthalle.de

This CD will be offered for free at the concert to the audience.
 

For booking please contact:

Barbara Lamprecht music promotion
Großer Griechenmarkt 125
50676 Köln

fon: +49-221-740 69 36
fax: +49-221-740 69 37
mail: barbara@lamprecht-music.de
skype: lampimusic
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Booklet - Liner notes

Every 3 to 4 years I come up with all sorts of ‘daring’ (I would call them) ideas and musical projects. Out of all kinds of these plans, most of which will probably never be accomplished, there arise particular projects for smaller or larger ensembles out of an inner necessity. That’s exactly how this Cultural Association—7 Dreams from Brasov (Romania) was born in 2006, and together with Ana Maria Gavrila (Mariuka) we are striving to realize fairly specialized musical projects.

I would have dreamed of becoming a conductor in order to focus more on composing, but as life does not always let us choose what we want, it at least gives us the possibility to achieve our goals from time to time telling us: ‘I don’t know if you would have been any happier—becoming only a conductor or a composer’! Therefore I appreciate these little gifts that I kindly and holly receive from that inner voice that tells me which path to choose when. I believe we need to get to that point when we cannot have it another way rather than writing down our thoughts and feelings. We could associate them with the blossoming trees at spring, since they don’t blossom during every season; they need a whole cycle—they need the Earth’s ritual with her order and her harmony.

The idea of this project Classic meets Jazz (I could also say Classic needs Jazz) is actually a cycle of works and CD recordings that started nearly 25 years ago and that materialized in a few CD's and some orchestral pieces. It’s a work in progress, from duos to small jazz combos to orchestral works to such special cycle of pieces written by different composers for this special project. I’ve been collaborating on this cycle with Maestro Sabin Pautza for the past few years, performing different pieces of symphonic jazz for a Romanian audience, pieces written by composers such as Richard Oschanitzky, Sabin Pautza, George Gershwin, myself and many others. We have even managed to get first-performances of some orchestral works. Regarding the jazz band in this recording: I have worked with all these musicians on different occasions and in different groups, but we have never all played together. So now we are looking forward to realizing an extraordinary goal: that of spontaneously improvising and creating a dialog between orchestra and jazz combo.

I’ve written a few hundred instrumental jazz tunes; I’ve arranged a dozen masterpieces of international traditional music (folklore), and I’ve even dared ‘de-composing’ a few of my favorite composers such as Bela Bartok, George Enescu, Erik Satie, Nicolae Coman, Modest Mussorgsky, György Ligeti. The list could go on and on.

I’m very happy for this particular project and I want to thank everyone who made a contribution on any level to the success of this idea—of this fresh and original music full of spirit.

Nicolas Simion, november 2010