Bolling sees his suites,
which make use of musical methods from
both classical and jazz traditions,
not as examples of fusion but of dialogue
between musical idioms. The 1973 Suite
was the first of a whole series of such
works and was composed for performance
by Jean Pierre Rampal – later ones have
been written for, amongst others Yo-Yo
Ma, Pinchas Zukerman and Maurice André.
The original recording of the 1973 suite
had a considerable commercial success
– though if one listens to it now, and
listens to it in the light of recordings
such as this by Laurel Zucker and, to
a lesser extent, the Naxos recording
by the Roselli Quartet, Rampal’s playing
of jazz seems rather bookish, as it
were, something he has learnt from records
rather than a language he speaks at
all naturally. Bolling’s own playing,
on the other hand, is exemplary in all
respects.
Bolling is, of course,
a considerable jazz pianist. He made
some marvellous duet recordings with
the trumpeter Roy Eldridge at the very
beginning of the 1950s and a few years
later featured on important recordings
with Lionel Hampton. Recordings under
his own name, as a solo pianist and
the head of a trio, include – amongst
many others - an excellent tribute to
Duke Ellington (Claude Bolling Plays
Duke Ellington, 1959). His writing
for the piano in these suites is that
of a man utterly at home in many different
jazz styles; alongside, and in interplay
with, his comfortable jazz phrasing
and rhythm is an informed awareness
of important aspects of the language
of classical, particularly baroque,
music. Joe Gilman is a fine pianist,
who sounds totally at ease in Bolling’s
music and who is admirably supported
by Neighbor and Rokeach. Both have extensive
experience as jazz men and as freelance
musicians working in the studios of
California ... and in Neighbor’s case
with the San Francisco Symphony and
San Francisco Ballet and Opera orchestras.
Laurel Zucker is altogether
more convincing than Rampal. Only an
insensitive, unlistening musician –
and Zucker is most categorically neither
of those things – could be based in
California without developing an ear
for the language of jazz. Zucker’s expressive
playing, as for example in her bending
of notes as appropriate, carries absolute
conviction. Where it is fitting she
can also produce a ‘classical’ tone
every bit as burnished as Rampal’s.
The piano writing seems
to me at least as important as that
for flute in these suites and it is
good that the balance of this Cantilena
recording resists the temptation to
give Zucker excessive prominence.
These four musicians
really work together as a group and
the results are highly enjoyable. Bolling’s
music is happy and witty, melodically
fluent and consistently charming – all
qualities that Zucker and her colleagues
communicate directly and unaffectedly.
In the first suite
‘Sentimentale’ is played with informal
grace and in ‘Fugace’ the pastiche of
Bachian fugue is handled with a precision
which isn’t merely pedantic. In the
opening ‘Baroque and Blue’ the switches
between rhythmic patterns are presented
with elegant conviction. Like any good
jazz musician, Bolling doesn’t forget
the great standards – ‘Sweet Georgia
Brown’ underlies the last movement,
‘Veloce’. In the second suite, ‘Amoureuse’
is a beautiful ballad which reminds
one of how much good film music Bolling
has written; ‘Vagabonde’ is a fugue
which surely nods to Jacques Loussier
as well as to his original; ‘Jazzy’
is a furiously fast test of technique
and musicianship – Zucker and her colleagues
pass the test with flying colours. I
have picked out only a few movements
which are at present in the forefront
of my mind; many of the other movements
(the first suite is in seven parts,
the second in eight) are just as attractive.
Though this isn’t music
which digs very deep emotionally speaking,
it is chamber music of a distinctive,
intelligent subtlety, full of twists
and turns; it reveals more, indeed,
with every hearing.
Laurel Zucker strikes
me as the well-nigh ideal performer
for this music and in Joe Gilman and
his trio she has found absolutely perfect
partners. They give the best performance
I have yet heard of Bolling’s two Suites.
Strongly recommended.
Glyn Pursglove
see
also review by Patrick Gary
Laurel Zucker (flute, alto flute, bass flute);
Joe Gilman (piano); Jeff Neighbor (bass); David
Rokeach (percussion) 
