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Resonance Big Band

Some may call it hubris to introduce Marian Petrescu with an album in which he is asked to step into the shoes of a uniquely accomplished and intimidating virtuoso. But that assumption evaporates in an instant, once the music of Resonance Big Band Plays the Legacy of Oscar Peterson begins. That's all it takes to make clear that this remarkable album is inspired not by bravado but by Petrescu's respect and even love for the artist he credits with inspiring his commitment to jazz. More About Resonance Big Band Some may call it hubris to introduce Marian Petrescu with an album in which he is asked to step into the shoes of a uniquely accomplished and intimidating virtuoso. But that assumption evaporates in an instant, once the music of Resonance Big Band Plays the Legacy of Oscar Peterson begins. That's all it takes to make clear that this remarkable album is inspired not by bravado but by Petrescu's respect and even love for the artist he credits with inspiring his commitment to jazz. More to the point, it pays tribute by exemplifying what it means for one artist to influence another, as Petrescu follows Peterson's example by combining the highest order of technique and musicianship into a sound that is all his own. This standard is set on the opening track, the Peterson composition “Waltzing Is Hip,” a blaze of big band brass and keyboard wizardry that impresses equally through chops and taste. Petrescu then delivers with the same authority in a variety of settings, through the intimacies of “Little Girl Blue,” the alternately reverent and ecstatic medley of “Hymn to Freedom” and “John Brown's Body,” a triumphant re-examination of Peterson's “West Side Story” arrangement, and finally on solo piano with a Peterson gem, “A Little Jazz Exercise,” whose modest title slyly belies its devilish difficulty. For Petrescu, the seeds for this project were planted as far back as the notion to play jazz at all. Born in 1970, he received a thorough musical education, beginning with piano lessons at age 4 in his hometown of Bucharest, Romania. Just two years later, he happened to catch a performance by Peterson on television. With that, the door opened through which Petrescu would pursue classical and jazz studies in Sweden and subsequently at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. By age 15, Petrescu was playing formidably enough to debut at the Pori Jazz Festival.

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243
Album Review

Resonance Big Band: Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson

Read "Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson" reviewed by Raul d'Gama Rose


Resonance Big Band's Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson is a true tribute. Here is an artistic offering made in reverential regard to the great pianist, Oscar Peterson. It is something fresh and inviting and eminently deserving of high praise--for George Klabin, who conceived of it, and a magnificent big band that brings the spirit of Peterson to life. Much of this has to do with the wonderful ideas of its arrangers--Bill Cunliffe, Kuno Schmid and Claus Ogerman. There is also ...

489
Album Review

Resonance Big Band: Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson

Read "Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson" reviewed by Ken Dryden


Oscar Peterson was a jazz giant whose career spanned from the late '40s until not long before his death in late 2007. When Resonance owner George Klabin conceived this big band tribute, he made an unusual choice: Marian Petrescu, a Rumanian native, who had appeared as a sideman on guitarist Andreas Oberg's earlier CD for the label. Klabin heard the Peterson influence in Petrescu's playing and thought it would fit in with the collection of West Coast all-stars, along with ...

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Contest

Enter the Resonance Records "Resonance Big Band - Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson" Giveaway Contest

Enter the Resonance Records "Resonance Big Band - Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson" Giveaway Contest

Source: All About Jazz

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the Resonance Records “Resonance Big Band - Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on August 7th. Click here to enter the contest

(Following the Resonance Big Band at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)

Good luck! Your Friends at Resonance Records

About Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson Some may call it hubris to introduce ...

399

Performance / Tour

Marian Petrescu Quartet at the Jazz Standard (NYC) on June 16th

Marian Petrescu Quartet at the Jazz Standard (NYC) on June 16th

Source: All About Jazz

Some may call it hubris to introduce Marian Petrescu with an album in which he is asked to step into the shoes of a uniquely accomplished and intimidating virtuoso. But that assumption evaporates in an instant, once the music of Resonance Big Band Plays the Legacy of Oscar Peterson begins. That's all it takes to make clear that this remarkable album is inspired not by bravado but by Petrescu's respect and even love for the artist he credits with inspiring ...

349

Recording

Resonance Big Band Tribute to Oscar Peterson

Resonance Big Band Tribute to Oscar Peterson

Source: DL Media

RESONANCE RECORDS INTRODUCES ROMANIAN PIANO VIRTUOSO MARIAN PETRESCU - RESONANCE BIG BAND PLAYS TRIBUTE TO THE LEGACY OF OSCAR PETERSON

Some may call it hubris to introduce Marian Petrescu with an album in which he is asked to step into the shoes of a uniquely accomplished and intimidating virtuoso.

But that assumption evaporates in an instant, once the music of Resonance Big Band Plays the Legacy of Oscar Peterson begins.

That's all it takes to make clear that this remarkable ...

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