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NICOLAS SIMION ~ CLASSIC MEETS JAZZ
7DREAMS ~ ROMANIA ~ Jazz-Classical Fusion

Recorded: 2010 Released: 2011

This double CD album is a document of an ambitious, large scale musical project, which presents seven instrumental pieces for String Orchestra and Jazz ensemble, composed by seven contemporary European composers. The music, recorded live in the Romanian city of Brasov (Transylvania), is performed by the Chamber Strings Orchestra BrasovFind albums by this artist, conducted by Sabin PautzaFind albums by this artist, who also contributed one of the compositions, and a Jazz sextet led by saxophonist / composer Nicolas SimionFind albums by this artist, who contributed another composition. Three of the sextet´s members; pianist Antonis AnissegosFind albums by this artist, guitarist Norbert SchollyFind albums by this artist and bassist Chris DahlgrenFind albums by this artist also contributed one composition each. The remaining two sextet members are accordionist Fausto BeccalossiFind albums by this artist and drummer Alan JonesFind albums by this artist. This entire project was a brain-child of Simion and is just one of many different projects combining Jazz and Classical music he was involved with previously.

The seven pieces range in length from just over ten minutes to twenty one minutes and are quite different from each other stylistically and tonally. They range from relatively melodic and conventional to quite complex and even Avant-Garde. However, they all have one thing in common, which is the attempt to expand the boundaries of both Classical music and Jazz by incorporating the legacies of both these genres into coherent and innovative forms of expression. Naturally some of these attempts work better than others, but overall the level of the musical substance is truly excellent and this music should be able to capture many followers, provided it can reach wider audiences.

Although the Jazz ensemble is an integral part of the music presented here, the overall effect is more closely related to contemporary Classical music than Jazz and therefore will probably be more appealing to listeners who are familiar with Classical music lexis and environment. Of course open-minded Jazz connoisseurs will also be able to discover the gems and delights of this outstanding music.

In this day and age, when Culture is gradually losing the battle against a new wave (and form) of barbarism and anti-culture, projects like this one are beacons of hope penetrating the deep dark slowly engulfing us all and should be treasured ever more. Therefore Simion deserves to be praised for pulling this one through and adding one more gem to our Culture. Definitely worth investigating!
Updated: 12/04/2019Posted: CD 2 Recommend To A Friend

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