By Carrie Seidman, Herald-Tribune / Saturday, December 22, 2012
In 1960, the great Duke Ellington and his frequent collaborater, Billy Strayhorn, released a recording with jazz interpretations of a small portion of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite.” While it hasn’t had the longevity of the ballet, a go-to of the dance world for more than a century, it has become a standard of the jazz canon.
Bit Risner (right) as Clara/trumpet player in Jazz Juvenocracy’s reinterpretation of the “Nutcracker.” / Herald Tribune photo by Carrie Seidman
That recording was the catalyst for Jazz Juvenocracy’s reconfiguring of the holiday classic, which debuted this weekend at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center.
Artists from the Imaginique Contemporary Ballet Company performed throughout the show, but the emphasis in this production was on the music — and rightly so. The dancers added a colorful and technically adept element, but the weak story line and rough transitions between numbers detracted from the dance and music coming together as a whole.
The seven talented high school musicians of the celebrated combo — pianist Aaron Lehrian (who did most of the arrangements); guitarist Mackenzie Gray; bassist Reed Tucker; trumpet player Bit Risner; saxophone player Thomas Shepard; violinist Mario Santana and drummer Ronan Cowen — started with Ellington’s interpretations, then added their own arrangements of other Ellington works, a few holiday standards and additional portions of the Tchaikovsky score. The group met the considerable challenge of turning classical music into jazz and the fresh take on what has almost become elevator music was a delightful changeup.
Less successfully, the group also reinterpreted the familiar storyline, turning the Drosselmeier character (actor Ryan Fitts) into the band’s music director, “Clara” (Risner) into the trumpet player, and the dancers into the Nutcracker/nephew (Daniil Smirnov) and the parade of visions Clara meets in her second act dream. Titles projected on a back screen assisted with the storytelling, as well as adding scenic elements (like falling snow and a clock representing the passage of time) to a simple set (by Kate Murdock) designed to replicate a jazz club.
Read more: http://arts.heraldtribune.com/2012-12-22/featured/review-jazz-juvenocracys-nutcracker-is-all-about-the-music/
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