| The release of the adaptions of the music by the composer Gustav Mahler in March 1997 [Winter & Winter 910 004-2: Gustav Mahler/Uri Caine, Urlicht/Primal Light], the New York based pianist and composer Uri Caine made his worldwide break through as a composer as well as a musician. The recording of Mahler adaptions received the 1997 Gustav Mahler Award amongst other prices.
Half a year passed by, when Uri Caine reappeared with arrangements of another great composer of the turn of the century: Richard Wagner. Wagner e Venezia [Winter & Winter 910 013-2] presents the Uri Caine Ensemble on a live recording at the St. Marks Square and the Hotel Metropol in Venice [Italy].
After handling the musical heritage in a way far beyond a simplifying rhythmification Uri Caine now turns back to his roots: on Blue Wail the pianist presents jazz music - unmistakable, independent and far beyond the common approach of Jazz.
All but one compositions [Honeysuckle Rose by Thomas "Fats" Waller, performed twice for piano solo] on Blue Wail are written by Uri Caine. Being rooted in the tradition of Hard Bop and Cool Jazz but transferred into the harmonically ingenious and unique, Caine-like style, the recording of Uri Caine's Jazz Trio shows once more the versatility of an artist that has been underestimated for a long time. His individual way of piano playing shows many different but unified styles containing jazz, free improvisation and new music as well. I wanted to play many types of music from more 'inside' swing to a freer type of improvisational music, he says and shows how to do it in a very special way.
With his rhythm group James Genus on bass and Ralph Peterson on drums he found two musicians that are masters as well in their poweful and energetic accompany play as in their risky solistic excursions, of which on the basis of the instrumentation of the album there are a lot included on Blue Wail . |