“This concert has been put together with two ideas in mind,” St. Clair said. “The first is that it is a collage of music with jazz as its theme. Collage, in my mind, means continually flowing music, practically nonstop, for about 22 to 25 minutes. Unlike the other two ‘Music Unwound’ programs, there will be almost no talking — just a stream of music juxtaposed in extreme contrast.”
The jazz shows will feature French Canadian pianist extraordinaire Alain Lefèvre and top bassist Kevin Deas, joining the symphony in portions of pieces like Leonard Bernstein’s “Preludes, Fugues and Riffs”; George Gershwin’s own “Concerto in F”; Dmitri Shostakovitch’s “Dance 1” from his Jazz Suite No. 2; and Frank Ticheli’s “Blue Shades.”
On the cooler side, Los Angeles saxophonist Charles Owens will solo in “King Solomon” from Duke Ellington’s little-known concert work, “Three Black Kings”; Deas will perform traditional spirituals; and Lefèvre will perform two of his own compositions: “Philip Black Blue” and “Cool Cole.”
For those seeking more Gershwin, an additional concert at 3 p.m. March 21 will feature Lefèvre exploring Gershwin’s full concerto, which has been equally panned and admired.
The “Gershwin and All That Jazz” production is the third in the symphony’s popular “Music Unwound” series that debuted at the start of the season, in which the traditional concert hall experience is unraveled and all bets are off.
