On a
nice spring evening, I was invited to check out an intriguing jazz trio at
Toronto’s newest (and finest) jazz club, the Jazz Bistro. The trio was lead by none other than
Halifax’s own Peter Togni.
The
evening consisted of jazz interpretations of classical music, showing the
effective bridge of the past, present and the future with its innovative and
fresh re-imaginations of such timeless pieces, along with contemporary pop
material as well.
Togni
opened up his set with his take on “Bittersweet Symphony”, which is a jazz
version of the great pop hit by the band “The Verve”. Here, it is taken at a pensive and
reflective pace, embodying the classical influences that dominates the peace
and putting it forth into a jazz context.
The
next tune, in which Togni calls it “Café Midnight”, is in essence the classic
Prelude in C Minor by Frederic Chopin.
This tune brought me to tears with its beautiful and haunting melody,
which happens to be one of my favourite classical pieces (and one in which I
have to learn to play on the piano).
Then it is followed by a very ancient take on a Gregorian Chant piece,
Ubi Caritas. On this piece we hear the
great spirituality and the wonderful interplay between the trio members as they
bring something new into an old piece.
For
the remaining pieces, the trio is joined by none other than Juno award winning
sax giant Mike Murley. Troll Time
takes Edvard Grieg’s classic theme and turns it into straight ahead music that
really swings and gets down hard.
Not
only Peter Togni is a fine interpreter of classical music, he is also a fine
composer. On “Waltz for Patricia”,
dedicated to his wife, the melody is beautiful and the solos by both Togni and
Murley bring a sense of romanticism into the piece.
The
next two pieces are back in the classical vein, both Bach’s Prelude in C Major
from the Well Tempered Clavier and Beethoven’s “Joyful Joyful Lord We Adore
Thee”. Especially on “Joyful Joyful”,
I heard the gospel church-like influences in the arrangement a la Keith
Jarrett. The set closes with “Have You
Ever Seen The Rain”, the classic Creedence Clearwater Revival hit.
Overall,
it was a great night of fresh jazz, beautiful music, and clever approaches to
fuse classical traditions and music with the improvisational freedom that jazz
has to offer. Look out for this group
in the future when they come into town next.
-
Conrad Gayle
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