Gershwin on guitar

The new album Gershwin on guitar is being released on May 9th.

Andreas Pettersson Gershwin on Guitar It has been during the last decade that the guitarist Andreas Pettersson has emerged as one of the most highly regarded musicians on the Swedish jazz scene. His eight albums as a leader have included collaborations with many of the best known names in today´s jazz; including Ed Thigpen, Toots Thielemans, Ernie Watts, Deborah Brown, Horace Parlan, Junior Mance, John Fedchock, and many others. His stylish, fiery performances with his Gibson Super 400 have earned him wide recognition throughout the international jazz community. Andreas´s first album after his signing with Universal Records in 2005, “Gullin on Guitar”, was a critically acclaimed tribute to the legendary Swedish baritone saxophonist and composer Lars Gullin, and a year later it was suggested that he might try a similar album with the music of George Gershwin. At first he hesitated, but he eventually decided to see what he could bring to Gershwin´s music. A few months went into selecting the material and writing the arrangements, then he gathered a group of some of the most exciting younger jazz musicians working in Sweden today for the rehearsals. Daniel Tilling is the pianist, Martin Sjöstedt, the bassist, and Daniel Fredriksson fills out the quartet on drums and percussion. George Gershwin´s music has been recorded often before, and Andreas´s concern was that he didn´t want this to be “just another album of standards”. To emphasize his individual approach to Gershwin´s talents he decided to open the album with his own arrangements of Gershwin´s “Three Preludes”, studies for piano in a classical/jazz style that Gershwin composed in 1929 and recorded himself on a classical music series a few years later. Other musicians have performed them, notably the violinist Jascha Heifitz in an arrangement for violin and piano, and there have been a number of orchestral recordings, but this is one of the rare times when the Preludes have been set solidly in a jazz context,. The first and third of the pieces are uptempo, joyous romps, while the second – in a blues mood – is one of Gershwin´s most touching instrumental melodies. Andreas´ distinctive arrangements and perfectly styled performances of these unique compositions set the tone for the album. Andreas has chosen to follow the Preludes with classic Gershwin melodies, many known from Gershwin´s successful musical comedies and the opera Porgy and Bess. His fresh arrangements of pieces like “Strike Up the Band”. “The Man I Love”, “S´Wonderful” and “Lady Be Good” provide a perfect instrumental playground for the group´s high-spirited improvisations, and these selections work as a bright contrast to the sensitive beauty of their playing on classics like “Embraceable You”, “Summertime” and “Bess, You is my woman Now”. In his ambitious plans for the album Andreas endeavoured to create a tribute to Gershwin in today´s musical terms, but still without losing the context which had so perfectly framed the original versions. The blues feeling hat was such a pervasive element in Gershwin´s music is there, along with the unmistakeable swing and grace of Gershwin´s blend of classical and jazz styles in his concertos. What is new in this splendid album I Andreas´ own musical temperament and his unique stylistic approach to Gershwin and his music. For many musicians today, “Gershwin on Guitar” will certainly become a point of reference in the continuing fascination with these timeless classics. May 2007

Published:   2007-05-05 16:44:00 Updated:   2007-06-30 00:32:03