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Jazz records with small strings sections


Milestones

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By small I generally mean a string quartet. It's a more feasible thing, since most jazz artists don't have a lot of money to lay out. But I sometimes feel overwhelmed by a string orchestra, or that it leads to an "easy listening" quality.  Plus a string quartet is more likely to have the flexibility to improvise.

Here are some that come to mind:

  • Max Roach Double Quartet (many sessions)
  • Rhyme & Reason--Ted Nash
  • Paradise--Tom Harrell
  • Andrew Hill--some tracks from Mosaic box
  • Symbols of Light--Greg Osby

I'm sure there are more.

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4 hours ago, paul secor said:

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Lee Konitz: Holiday for Strings (Enja)

I have some respect for arranger Daniel Schnyder, but my memory of this one is that the strings' rather intrusive, near-soloistic lines kept getting in Lee's way, more or less pushing him into outlining the melodies of the songs rather than embellishing them, which is what the strings were doing. My sense was that Schnyder was trying to do too much; I'd rather hear Lee's ideas than his.

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4 hours ago, Larry Kart said:

I have some respect for arranger Daniel Schnyder, but my memory of this one is that the strings' rather intrusive, near-soloistic lines kept getting in Lee's way, more or less pushing him into outlining the melodies of the songs rather than embellishing them, which is what the strings were doing. My sense was that Schnyder was trying to do too much; I'd rather hear Lee's ideas than his.

I guess we'll agree to disagree, Larry. I hear the string arrangements as being somewhat challenging to what Lee is playing, rather than providing the usual sweet backgrounds, and I like the contrast.

Hey - different strokes. Nothing wrong with that.

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1 hour ago, paul secor said:

I guess we'll agree to disagree, Larry. I hear the string arrangements as being somewhat challenging to what Lee is playing, rather than providing the usual sweet backgrounds, and I like the contrast.

Hey - different strokes. Nothing wrong with that.

Thanks. I think I should listen again. BTW, a sublime record with Lee and a small group of strings is the one he did with Bill Russo "An Image":

https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Albums-Konitz-Harvard-Square/dp/B009RQZKTO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472335151&sr=8-1&keywords=konitz+an+image

In fact, that probably is the best soloist with a small string ensemble record I know. Russo also did a nice one with Cannonball playing material from Ellington's "Jump for Joy," but the major Russo composition on "An Image" is a genuinely major composition.

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