Paganini: After a Dream

爵士乐史上首位演奏帕格尼尼传世名琴的绝世乐声! 这是一次古典名琴与爵士乐手史无前例的邂逅：小提琴之神帕格尼尼于1840年去世后，留下了名琴“The Cannon”，将近两世纪以来，这把名琴一直被帕格尼尼的故乡－义大利热纳亚（Genoa）市所保存着。许多古典小提琴家将演奏这把名琴视为最神圣的使命。 2001年12月，有位爵士乐手破天荒地也加入了演奏这把名琴的行列，她就是来自美国的黎晶娜卡特。这场跨世纪跨乐风的约会一开始并不顺利，许多古典乐迷认为由爵士乐手来演奏名琴是对帕格尼尼的亵渎，然而黎晶娜在演奏会前以流利的义大利语在记者会中解释她对这场演出的期待，再加上她完美的演出，让乐迷们捐弃成见，不但在演奏会中为她起立喝采，更将她视为热纳亚最喜爱的女性艺人。 本张专辑是黎晶娜于次年再度演奏这把名琴的纪录，她从19世纪作品一路演奏到20世纪爵士乐、Bossa Nova以及探戈等等各式各样的曲风，扎实的技巧将各种音乐语汇交织出一篇篇穿越时空的精彩画面。 by Alex Henderson It would be a definite exaggeration to say that jazz and classical have become joined at the hip the way that rap and urban contemporary have become joined at the hip, but it is safe to say that the jazz and classical worlds are crossing paths a lot these days. Many of today's jazz musicians are classically trained, and concert halls that are classical-friendly are often jazz-friendly (especially in Europe). Paganini: After a Dream is among the many instrumental projects that finds a jazz artist acknowledging the Euro-classical tradition, which isn't to say this is a classical album per se. Essentially, Paganini: After a Dream is post-bop, although it's post-bop with a strong Euro-classical influence and, at times, some Latin influences as well (including Argentinean tango, Brazilian samba, and the Cuban bolero tradition). This CD wasn't designed with musical purists in mind -- Paganini: After a Dream isn't for jazz purists any more than it is for classical purists or Latin purists. But the more broad-minded listeners will appreciate the fact that violinist Regina Carter plays quite lyrically throughout the album whether she is turning her attention to Maurice Ravel's "Pavane Pour une Infante Défunte" and Claude Debussy's "Rêverie" or Luiz Bonfá's "Manha de Carnaval" and Argentinean tango innovator Astor Piazzolla's "Oblivion." The people who join Carter on this disc include, among others, conductor Ettore Stratta (who serves as co-producer) and cellist Borislav Strulev -- and thankfully, Carter manages to provide an album that is extremely lush without being elevator muzak. Because the material is heavily arranged, she doesn't have as much room to improvise. But the violinist does have enough solo space to get her points across, and even though Paganini: After a Dream isn't her most essential release, it is a tasteful, pleasing addition to Carter's catalog.