Uri Caine and jazzing up MAHLER

[klingsor]

 Well? Has anyone else taken the plunge and given Uri Caine's takes on Mahler a listen?



I couldn't resist, after reading some positive comments on Amazon. I have listened to his "rendition" of M5/I, the great funeral march-dominated intro movement. Caine and his players first sound like a streetcorner Klezmer band, playing fairly straightforwardly, then they start to jazz up the rhythms....then...in the 'stürmisch' episode, all hell breaks loose. I can't say I hate it, can't say I like it either. It's so bizarre, it must be heard

I took the liberty to upload the file, for anyone who is curious to give it a listen. I'd love to hear your comments.

It's a small download, about 2.7mb and perfectly safe:

http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=08758338255727272619

[ggl]

Thank you, Klingsor.  Before I set down my reaction, I should note that I'm not a great jazz fan.  I enjoy some John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, and Mingus, as well as jazz standards such as Ella, but I don't listen to a lot of jazz.  And I listen to almost no klezmer music.

That said, the excerpt of Caine's version of the M5 funeral march movement didn't work for me.  It sounded not like music for the funeral of some great personage (Mahler himself, for example) or, as it sometimes does , like a funeral for us all, but like the funeral music for somebody's uncle, who perhaps ran the corner deli.

Caine's version lacked grandeur and emotional impact.  I didn't care about the person who had died, and his or her death didn't seem universal, but a particular and parochial experience.

When, shortly after the 4-minute mark, Caine and his group seemed to switch from klezmer to jazz, that didn't work for me either.  It lacked the craziness of the wild sort of jazz that sometimes appeals to me. 

Mahler was, of course, one of the greatest orchestrators of symphonic music.  That doesn't mean his choice of instruments, etc. is sacred and untouchable.  But it does set a very high standard for those who would re-interpret his basic materials.  In this instance, I don't find that Caine was successful.

[david johnson]

i have a uri caine cd.  i listen to it when i feel a bit surreal.  it is interesting.
have you ever heard the old kenton/wagner album?

dj

[klingsor]

  It sounded not like music for the funeral of some great personage (Mahler himself, for example) or, as it sometimes does , like a funeral for us all, but like the funeral music for somebody's uncle, who perhaps ran the corner deli.
 

Thanks ggl, an interesting observation. I personally never hear the funeral march as related to any specific person. I hear it as an expression ofk Mahler's preoccupation with the march itself. I'm convinced he loved marches, otherwise he'd not have included so many in his music. The Caine rendition does scale down the music quite a lot, and it does make it seem more mundane, less grandiose.

[klingsor]

i have a uri caine cd.  i listen to it when i feel a bit surreal.  it is interesting.
have you ever heard the old kenton/wagner album?

dj

HI dj,
No I have not heard that Kenton and did not know he had done such a recording. Sounds fascinating.

[david johnson]

i have the lp.  i've never seen it on cd.

dj

[barry guerrero]

I'll vote for "hate it". Mahler's orchestrations are already so expressive and outrageous, that I just don't see how anybody else could improve upon them. And I say that as somebody who absolutely loves jazz - far more than most classical, truthfully.

Barry

[klingsor]

These are pretty much the reactions I expected. I can't say I hate it, because I think it shows a certain affection for the original music. But I do come away from it wondering what the point of it is, aside from a Klezmer-style connection to some of Mahler's music.
Still, as someone who greatly prefers classical to jazz, I say it's worth hearing some of it once, for novelty's sake.