SALTED CARAMEL
Let’s just do it: that was the motto when Simon Höfele and Frank Dupree decided to grab a hot potato. The two musicians, who have been making music for years, and not exclusively in the classical field they studied, love jazz as much as they love Hummel’s trumpet concerto and Beethoven’s for piano. That said, they can seldom stray far afield in their repertoire: the gap between classical music and jazz is so great; prejudices are simply insurmountable, and musical approaches too diverse. So they have done that anyway, and together with Frank’s colleague Obi Jenne on drums, Jakob Krupp on bass and the Goldmund Quartet they have produced an album that aims not to point out differences, not to emphasise what divides, but something that instead creates musical networks, music that aims to liberate us from conventions and put us in a good mood.
Gershwin is sweet
The starting point for their culinary journey is the music of George Gershwin. “It’s like the caramel that melts in your mouth,” explains Frank Dupree. Three of Gershwin’s works can be heard on “Salted Caramel”: “Rhapsody in Blue”, the second movement of his Piano Concerto and “An American in Paris”. The structural corner stones of the album – the “Rhapsody in Blue” arranged by Timofei Dokshitser, the other two Gershwin works arranged by Frank Dupree – are combined with an arrangement of Leonard Bernstein’s “Rondo for Lifey” and Daniel Schnyder’s Trumpet Sonata in the original version. By way of a contrast, Simon and Frank appropriate four original jazz works.
Jazz is salty
“The jazz pieces are the salt in the classical soup,” the two musicians explain. “Miles Davis, Chet Baker & Co. It was important to us on this album to say thank-you to a few of these jazz greats. These trumpeters influenced the world of music significantly. Without them, the trumpet would not have the status it enjoys today.” Höfele and Dupree stick pretty close to the originals in the jazz songs: Urtext if you like. Based on the transcriptions of the original recordings, they improvise, explore new territory and view each work through their own eyes. “For Roy Hargrove’s ‘Strasbourg-St. Denis’ Simon Höfele recorded two trumpets with different mutes in overdub. And on Gillespie’s ‘Manteca’ we worked out our own arrangement, with four Simons playing simultaneously, so to speak! In some ways we see this combination as an offer to lovers of classical music to dive into jazz,” is how Dupree puts it. “Elvis Costello’s ‘Almost Blue’ played by Chet Baker is my all-time favourite ballad,” says Höfele. “I definitely wanted to record that. Miles Davis is a must, Roy Hargrove is a bit more racy. Of course, we could have chosen so many more pieces.”
The right taste in your mouth
“In essence, we treated the jazz numbers as classically as possibly and conversely, made the classical pieces as jazzy as possible,” they agree. The result is a colourful repertoire and a collection that has its own character, not just as regards musical styles, but also scorings, sounds and technical attributes. “It’s important to me as a musician,” says Simon Höfele, “to always be open to new paths. That inspires me and gives me my motivation. I am convinced that my playing technique with classical repertoire benefits from trying my hand in new directions, be they contemporary or jazz: simply because I can develop as a musician in this way.”
