Chronology of Jazz-Influenced Piano Concertos and Related Works ...

Chronology of Jazz-Influenced Piano Concertos and Related Works, compiled by Steve Elman Update: 3/20/15

This post is part of an Arts Fuse series examining the traditions and realities of classical piano concertos influenced by jazz, bookended by concerts by the Boston Symphony that feature one of the first classical pieces directly influenced by jazz, Darius Milhaud’s “Creation of the World’ (February 19 - 21, 2015) and Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s performance of one of the core works in this repertoire, Maurice Ravel’s Concerto in G (April 23 - 28, 2015). Steve Elman’s weekly essays on this topic are posted on his author page [http://artsfuse.org/author/steveelman/]. He welcomes your comments and suggestions at [email protected]. A note on reference works used to compile this chronology: Allan B. Ho has compiled a very useful catalog of all the pieces for piano and orchestra known to have been recorded as of October 2014. It served as a counterbalance to my own knowledge and to the availability of works on line. Where Ho shows no recording and I have been unable to find one on line, I note, “No recording known.” Ho’s work is available on-line: Allan B. Ho, Music for Piano and Orchestra: The Recorded Repertory, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville [IL], October 5, 2014 [http://www.siue.edu/~aho/discography/Discography.pdf] In 1993, Maurice Hinson published a useful catalog of music for piano and orchestra, which included a number of pieces with “jazz” in the title. Not all of these pieces have been recorded, but I have included the ones I could not hear in this chronology to provide as complete a reference as possible. Where Hinson’s book is the only source I can identify, I note “Described by Maurice Hinson.” Google Books has made Hinson’s book available on-line: Maurice Hinson, Music for Piano and Orchestra: An Annotated Guide (Indiana University Press, 1993). [http://books.google.com/books?id=t-ZSisjobpQC&pg=PR5&lpg=PR5&dq=hinson+ %22music+for+piano+and+orchestra%22&source=bl&ots=vRxZB8x7a&sig=eU_L3T_TAN4ChRFkDe0woZt-S8M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Iww4VOeCFOqj8gGO4DQAw&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=hinson%20%22music%20for%20piano%20and %20orchestra%22&f=false] The underlined works are piano concertos that show direct and significant jazz influence. Works that are not underlined are piano concertos that show indirect or marginal jazz influence. Works in italics are orchestral works spotlighting the piano (sometimes with other instruments) that show significant jazz influence but fall outside of the traditional pianoconcerto form.

I have provided brief notes under each work pointing the reader to the jazz influences in the piece, and suggesting available recordings. When one of these performances is particularly noteworthy, it is identified as “Recommended.” Where recordings are available from on-line sources, I have provided Spotify information, Pandora information, and YouTube links for the reader’s reference.

The 1910s John Alden Carpenter (1876 - 1951): Concertino for Piano and Orchestra (1915) The year of composition makes it impossible for jazz to have had a direct influence on this piece, because jazz was barely understood as a genre in 1915. Still, because of a hint of ragtime, Latin-American rhythms, and a sensibility that prefigures Gershwin’s, this piece has to be part of this survey, if only as a starting point Recording: Marjorie Mitchell, p; Göteborg Symphony Orchestra, William Strickland, cond [Issued on Citadel / Klavier CD, 1996] (Time: 25:42) Available via YouTube (two separate transfers): I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A-Hbzg7Keg II & III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lZzreNRIrQ John Powell (1882 - 1963): Rhapsodie Nègre (1917 - 18) As with Carpenter’s Concertino, it is a significant stretch to call this piece jazzinfluenced, simply because “jazz” or “jass” had hardly begun to take hold in the mind of the public in 1917, and it was generally understood as lively dance music built on rags and blues. This work is more like Liszt than Gershwin, but at least it sets a precedent for “Rhapsody in Blue.” Recording: Zita Carno, p; Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; Calvin Simmons, cond [Rec. c. 1977, Royce Hall Auditorium, University of California at Los Angeles; issued on New World LP, 1977; reissued on New World CD, 1992] (Time: 18:20) Available via YouTube [probably upload of above, but includes more than just the piano concerto]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrYplYbdqZ8

The 1920s Erwin Schulhoff (1894 - 1942): Concerto [No. 2] for Piano and Small Orchestra, Op. 43 (1923) Czech-born composer Schulhoff was one of the artists styled by the Nazis as “decadent,” and his death (at 48, of tuberculosis, in the Wülzburg concentration camp in Bavaria) deprived music of a great innovator. He had close links to the left and to the Berlin Dadaists in the 1920s. His Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra, actually his second piano concerto, is the first piano concerto to show the direct impact of jazz. The third movement marking, “Allegro alla jazz,” may mark the first time that the word “jazz” is used in a classical score. That movement has twenties show-band percussion, an idiomatic trumpet solo, and a flashy jazz-band crash. There is much more of great originality here, and I find it amazing that it is not better known. Recommended recording: Michael Rische, p; Kurt Guntner, v; WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln; Gunther Schuller, cond [Rec. 12/1993, Philharmonie Cologne, Köln, Germany; issued in “Piano Concertos of the 1920s,” Arte Nova CD, 2005] (Time: 18:40) Alternate recording: Aleksandar Madžar, p; uncredited (possibly Daniel Sepec), v; Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen; Andreas Delfs, cond [Rec. 10/1994, Freie Waldorfschule, Bremen, Germany; issued on London CD, 1995, in “Concertos alla Jazz”] (Time: 21:48) Available via Spotify [in three parts]. Vernon Duke [Vladimir Dukelsky] (1903 - 1969) (orch. Scott Dunn): Piano Concerto (1923; orch. 1998) This piece does not fit in the list of works actually influenced by jazz, but as a piece for piano and orchestra written by a successful composer of popular music a year before “Rhapsody in Blue,” it cannot be overlooked. It has much of the romantic piano concerto and a bit of the vernacular music of the time in two Latin-rhythm sections near the end. There are no “jazz effects” per se. Recording: Scott Dunn, p; Russian Philharmonic Orchestra; Dmitri Yablonsky, cond [Rec. 9-10/06, Studio 5, Russian State TV and Radio Company KULTURA, Moscow; Naxos CD, 2007] (Time: 18:20) Available via Spotify. Darius Milhaud (1892 - 1974): La création du monde, Op. 81a (1923) This is not a concerto, and its form makes it marginal to this chronology, but it cannot be ignored because of its obvious jazz influences. It is ballet music that uses piano as part of a 17-piece ensemble; the piano is no more a solo instrument than is the saxophone, the clarinet, the trumpet, the oboe, the violin, the flute, etc. It certainly is directly influenced by jazz, but it is certainly not, as is so often claimed, the first classical work to show

direct jazz influence. Erwin Schulhoff was writing “jazz etudes” as early as the teens, and his second Piano Concerto (see above) may have preceded “Création.” With all these caveats, it remains a very satisfying piece that fully justifies its popularity. The famous stop-time theme (like a big band punching out notes behind a soloist) introduced by clarinet, is one of the jolliest things ever written in classical music. Recommended recording: Prague Symphony Orchestra, with soloists drawn from the orchestra; Vaclav Neumann, cond [Rec. c. 1989, Prague, Czech Republic; Supraphon CD, 1989] Available via Spotify. Alternate recording: Orchestre National de Lille, with soloists drawn from the orchestra; Jean-Claude Casadesus, cond [Rec. 7/2003, Auditorium du Nouveau Siècle, Lille, France; Naxos CD, 2005] Available via Spotify. Igor Stravinsky (1882 - 1971): Concerto for Piano & Wind Instruments (1923 - 1924; revised 1950) Stravinsky was far too much of an individualist to be much of a borrower from jazz, but his familiarity with the conventions of dance music from the 1920s is occasionally displayed in this work. The first movement has some noteworthy spots: there are some hints of novelty rag for a moment in the left hand of the piano, the winds have a couple of jazz-inflected moments, and there are some dashes of syncopation. Recommended recording: Alexander Toradze, p; Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, cond [Live recording, probably in Rotterdam, date unavailable] (Time: 22:23) Available via YouTube: I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wyz92osSr7M II & III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87t7VRa54Ag Alternate recording: Olli Mustonen, p; Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester, Berlin; Vladimir Ashkenazy, cond [Rec. c. 2006; Decca CD (Time: 18:23)] Available via Spotify. Jean Wiéner [also spelled “Wiener,” without the accent] (1896 - 1982): Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, “Franco-Américain” (the date of composition is disputed; some sources give it as 1922 - 1923; the 1995 CD release and other sources give it as 1924) Wiéner’s success as a novelty-rag pianist in Paris and his friendship with the composers of Les Six tell you a great deal about what to expect here. This is the first French piano concerto to show direct jazz influence, and the flavors of popular music are liberally distributed throughout the piece – a couple of dissonant honky-tonk jokes in the first movement, a beautiful theme reminiscent of the slower ragtime compositions in the second, and a very nice blend of jazz and classical when the piano mixes things up over pulsing string figures in the third.

Recommended recording: Danielle Laval, p; Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra; Pascal Verrot, cond [Rec. 1995, Salle Garnier, Monte Carlo Casino; issued on Traveling CD; reissued on Naïve Classique CD, 2004] (Time: 15:20) Alternate recording: Timon Altwegg, p; Orchestra de Chambre de Toulouse; Gilles Colliard, cond [Rec. 2012?; issued on Guild CD, 2013] Available via Spotify. George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): Rhapsody in Blue [for Piano and Jazz Band / Orchestra] (orchestrated for jazz band by Ferde Grofé, 1924; re-orchestrated by Grofé, 1926; arranged by Grofé for symphony orchestra, 1942) The impact of this piece on future works for piano and orchestra cannot be overemphasized, although it is not a true concerto, but rather a “rhapsody,” just as it says, a one-movement elaboration on two principal themes, with the jazzy sensibilities of the 1920s evident throughout. Recommended recording [1942 version]: Oscar Levant, p; Philadelphia Orchestra; Eugene Ormandy, cond [Rec. 1945; issued in “Levant Plays Gershwin,” CBS CD, 1987] (Time: 12:48) Recording [1942 version]: Leonard Bernstein, p & cond; Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Available via Spotify. Recording [1942 version]: Michael Boriskin, p; Eos Orchestra; Jonathan Sheffer, cond. Available via Pandora. Alternate recording (first orchestration, 1924 [“jazz band version,” unabridged]): Tatiana Roitman, p; Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra; Richard Rosenberg, cond [Rec. 6/11/2008, Field House, Hot Springs National Park, Hot Springs, AK; issued on Naxos CD, 2010] (Time: 16:50) Arthur Honegger (1892 - 1955): Concertino for Piano and Orchestra (1924) This is a highly-concentrated piece, with the three-movement form occupying just over ten minutes of performing time. But a great deal gets accomplished in this very small space. Jazz effects are used in the final movement, subtly at first, then more prominently: muted trombone, then a trio of muted brass that provide a sort of “riffing” effect, then a prominent muted trumpet, and marching bass that morphs into near-walking bass. There is even something of a crime-jazz feel as the muted brass parts become more prominent. Recommended recording: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, p; Orchestre symphonique de Montréal; Charles Dutoit, cond [Rec. 1995, Montréal; issued on London CD, 1996] (Time: 10:20) Available via Spotify.

Alternate recording: Boris Krajnŷ, p; Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra; Zdeněk Košler, cond (Time: 10:55) Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeqhKYRV7ug George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra (1925) This is a big, ambitious piece, possibly the peak of Gershwin’s orchestral music, and certainly the most concentrated and forceful of his classical works. Jazz elements are both explicit (the bluesy trumpet solo in the second movement) and implicit. The entrance of the piano in the first movement is an acid test for any interpreter; it calls for the soloist to bridge the gap between classical and jazz feeling, and sets the tone for the piano statements throughout the work. Recommended recording: Oscar Levant, p; New York Philharmonic Orchestra; André Kostelanetz, cond [Rec. 1949; originally issued in 78 rpm set; reissued in “Levant Plays Gershwin,” CBS CD, 1987] (Time: 30:55) Recommended recording: Marc-André Hamelin, p; Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, cond [Rec. 2006, Amsterdam Concertgebouw] Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxUHcXUJZgY Recommended recording: Garrick Ohlsson, p; San Francisco Symphony Orchestra; Michael Tilson Thomas, cond [Rec. 2004; issued on RCA CD]. Available via Spotify Alternate recording: Michael Boriskin, p; Eos Orchestra; Jonathan Sheffer, cond [Rec. 1998; issued on Alliance CD, 1999] Available via Pandora. George Antheil (1900 - 1959): A Jazz Symphony for Piano and Orchestra (1925 - 1927; rev. 1955) This one-movement work is a serious burlesque. It does not follow a traditional concerto form, but the piano part is only a bit less prominent than it is in Antheil’s two “concertos,” and, every time the piano appears, the piece feels like a concerto. Jazz elements include the use of saxophones and banjo, a second theme based on the second strain of Zez Confrey’s “Kitten on the Keys” (1921), and a prominent growl trumpet solo over tramping rhythm, much like Bubber Miley’s work with Ellington’s ensemble. Recommended recording (original version): Nina Ferrigno & Geoffrey Burleson, p; Terry Everson, tp; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, cond [Rec. 2013?, Boston; issued on BMOP/sound CD, 2014] (Time: 13:14) Available via Spotify. Recommended recording (original version): Michael Rische, p; Lars Ranch, tp; Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin; Wayne Marshall, cond [Rec. 12/2002, JesusChristus-Kirche, Berlin, Germany; issued in “Piano Concertos of the 1920s”, Arte Nova CD, 2005] (Time: 12:52)

Aaron Copland (1900 - 1990): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1926) Jazz elements abound in this brilliant work, the third JIPC masterpiece from the twenties (the others are by Gershwin and Ravel). The form is unconventional, in that there is no slow movement. In the first movement, there is a notable bluesy shading, led by the clarinet, edging toward Gershwin, and there is a near-quote from one of the Gershwin piano preludes (which were written the same year as this concerto; Copland maintained that he and Gershwin were both borrowing from the same popular blues as source material). The piano part in that movement features a short cadenza with the most Monkish chords ever in a classical concerto, and a very twenties jazz feel. In the second movement, the interjections from muted trumpet, alto saxophone and clarinet are very jazzy and the piano part strongly evokes Harlem, with James P. Johnson and Ellington just beneath the surface. Several commentators note that Copland as pianist takes a jazzier approach to the solo part (see the Sony Classical recording below) than do other interpreters. Recommended recording: Copland, p; New York Philharmonic Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein, cond [Rec.1962, New York City; reissued in “Music for the Theatre and Other Works” on Sony Classical CD, 2011] (Time: 16:14) Available via Spotify [in two parts]. Alternate recording: Leo Smit, p; Radio Rome Symphony Orchestra; Aaron Copland, cond. Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY9GldQ_BYs Arthur Benjamin (1893 - 1960): Concertino for Piano and Orchestra (1927) This is the first classical piece by a non-American composer to show the direct influence of “Rhapsody in Blue.” Unlike a traditional concerto, it includes a scherzo as a third movement. The main tone is neoclassical rather than jazzy, but there are a number of diversions from that tone. The second movement has a bit of cakewalk rhythm and a prominent alto saxophone part. In the third movement, the composer calls the cadenza “an improvisation,” but it’s not clear whether he actually allows improvising or whether he uses the word to describe the quality of playing he wants. The last minute of the final movement has some notable jazz qualities. Recording: Lamar Crowson, p; London Symphony Orchestra; Arthur Benjamin, cond [Rec. 1959, Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London; issued on Everest LP, 1959; reissued on Everest CD, 1996] (Time: 14:38) Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOVaw1_Nsxk Randall Thompson (1899 - 1984): Jazz Poem [for Piano and Orchestra] (1927)

Described by Maurice Hinson. Hinson simply notes the length of the piece (14 minutes), which makes it unlikely to qualify as a concerto for this survey, but it would seem to be another of those works directly in the wake of “Rhapsody in Blue.” No recording known. James P. Johnson (1894 - 1955): Yamekraw, A Negro Rhapsody (orch. William Grant Still) (1927 - 28) There is a direct hommage to “Rhapsody in Blue” in the first few bars, and then the piece goes its own way through a series of African-American tunes (and / or original themes) transformed and decorated by Johnson. This is a very pleasant pastiche, with lots of melody and energy and many beautiful moments, although it does not speak very effectively as a unified work. Recording: Gary Hammond, p; Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra; Richard Rosenberg, cond [Rec. 6/2005, Field House, Hot Springs National Park, Hot Springs, AK; issued on Naxos CD, 2010] (15:32) Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWPg9BmEF2Y

The 1930s Maurice Ravel (1875 - 1937): Concerto in G [for Piano and Orchestra] (1929 - 1931) This is the third JIPC masterpiece, and a perennial concert-hall favorite. Jazz touches emerge in the first movement when the piano enters, followed by percussion effects, a hint of blues, and some muted trumpet. There is also bluesy descending figure with trumpet and trombone slurs that is both pure Gershwin and very jazzy. In the third movement, more jazz is heard in the solo instrument interjections (flute, clarinet, trombone, trumpet) over the piano statement. Recommended recordings: Leonard Bernstein, p & cond; “Columbia Symphony Orchestra,” a studio ensemble of New York-based musicians selected by Bernstein [Rec. 4/7/58, New York City; originally issued on Columbia LP, 1958; reissued on Sony Classical CD, 1992] (Time: 21:33) Jean-Yves Thibaudet, p; Orchestre symphonique de Montréal; Charles Dutoit, cond [Rec. 1995, Montréal; issued on London CD, 1996] Available via Spotify. Pascal Rogé, p; Vienna Radio Symphony, Bertrand de Billy, cond [Rec. 2004, Vienna; issued on Oehms CD, 2005] Available via Spotify. Pierre-Laurent Aimard, p; Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez, cond [Rec. 2010, Cleveland; issued on Deutsche Grammophon CD, 2010] Available via Spotify. [Leonard] Constant Lambert (1905 - 1951): Concerto for Piano and Nine Instruments (1931) This is a chamber concerto with greater ambitions, strongly influenced by Gershwin and Ravel. The instrumentation is only piano, flute, a pair of clarinets, bass clarinet, cello, bass, percussion, trumpet and trombone, but the ensemble sound is quite full. There are syncopated jazzy piano statements that hint at novelty rag in the first and second movements, and a particularly clever moment in the second when a quote from Ravel’s “Tombeau de Couperin” is interwoven with a jazz pulse. Recording: Alessandro DeCurtis, p; Harmonia Ensemble; Giuseppe Grazioli, cond [Rec. 1/89, Genova, Italy; issued on Arts CD, 1989] (Time: 26:26) Available via Spotify [in two parts] George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): Second Rhapsody (aka New York Rhapsody and Rhapsody in Rivets) (1931) (re-orch. Frank Campbell-Watson, 1953)

The orchestration, voicings, and a certain grandiosity in tone (especially in the 1953 orchestration) reflect the work’s origins as film music (Parts of it were used in the film “Delicious” [David Butler, 1931]). Gershwin said that it was intended to be more serious and less sentimental than “Rhapsody in Blue,” but it is precisely those qualities that make it less vibrant than the earlier piece. Again, it is not a concerto; there is a big sweeping slow theme introduced as contrast to the jazzy first theme. Recommended recording (1931 orchestration): Michael Boriskin, p; Eos Orchestra; Jonathan Sheffer, cond [Rec. 1998; Alliance CD, 1999] (Time: 14:57) Available via Pandora. Recommended recording (1953 orchestration): Leonard Pennario, p; Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; Alfred Newman, cond [Rec. c. 1959; Hollywood; issued on Capitol LP, 1959; reissued on Angel CD, 1997] (Time: 13:54) Available via Pandora. [Nadine] Dana Suesse (1909 - 1987) [orch. w. Ferde Grofé]: Concerto in Three Rhythms [for Piano and Orchestra] (1932) This concerto is shot through with twenties feel. Suesse’s desire (or possibly her mandate from Paul Whiteman, who commissioned the piece) to “do Gershwin” is obvious, especially in the first movement. The third movement may be the most innovative, prefiguring Copland’s “American” pieces by almost twenty years, and flirting with some indeterminate harmony. Recording: Michael Gurt, p; Hot Springs Music Festival Symphony Orchestra; Richard Rosenberg, cond [Rec. 6/2009, Field House, Hot Springs National Park, Hot Springs, AK; issued on Naxos CD, 2010] (Time: 22:54) Jean Françaix (1912 - 1997): Concertino [for Piano and Orchestra] (1932) This four-movement miniature, just nine minutes long, is quite neoclassical, but there’s jazz beneath the surface. The first movement has a bit of ragtime and a good measure of the post-“Rhapsody in Blue” quality. The second is also strongly Gershwinesque and features a slow rocking rhythm which is very bluesy. Recommended recording: Jean-Yves Thibaudet, p; Orchestre symphonique de Montréal; Charles Dutoit, cond [Rec 1995, Montréal; issued on London CD, 1996] (Time: 9:10) Available via Spotify [in four parts, with order of first two movements reversed] George Gershwin (1898 - 1937): “I Got Rhythm” Variations (1933 - 34; reorchestrated by William Schoenfeld for the work’s posthumous publication, 1937)

This isn’t a concerto, but it’s not exactly a typical theme-and-variations piece either. Each of the variations is actually a slow prelude followed by a variation, usually in a brighter tempo. The original song, written in 1928, had not yet become the foundation for hundreds of jazz contrafacts and thousands of improvised choruses, so this piece should not be misinterpreted as Gershwin providing his own “jazz solos” on the tune. Its ambitions are distinctly classical in nature, and show off Gershwin’s studies of modern harmony. The jazz touches are primarily in the nature of swing tempo, most notable in the first and last variation. Recommended recording: Wayne Marshall, p & cond; Aalborg Symphony Orchestra [Rec. c. 2010; EMI CD, 2010] (Time: 8:33) Also available via Spotify. James P. Johnson (1894 - 1955): Concerto Jazz-a-mine aka Piano Concerto in A-flat (1934) [two movements only; the final movement is lost] It is a minor tragedy that only the first two movements of this work survive in a form that allows them to be performed. However, even in this incomplete form, this is a fascinating anomaly. Johnson clearly did not intend for the piano part to be improvised or improvised upon, although he himself would surely have embellished the cadenza in performance. The music he gives to the piano has touches of his own style, but there isn’t a hint of his great trademark – stride – in the surviving movements (he may have been saving that for the third). What we hear is cool and elegant rather than hot and rhythmic, the voice of the songwriter of “If Dreams Come True” rather than the virtuoso of “Carolina Shout.” The piano has some jazzy moments in the first movement, especially in the cadenza, and there is a refinement throughout that recalls the grace and beauty of ragtime. Recording: Leslie Stifleman, p; Concordia Orchestra, Marin Alsop, cond [Rec. 2/92 or 1/94, New York City; issued with Harlem Symphony and short works by Johnson, Musicmasters Classics CD, 1994] (length of surviving movements: 17:15) Available via Spotify. Morton Gould (1913 - 1995): Chorale and Fugue in Jazz [for Two Pianos and Orchestra] (1934) This is more adventurous than some of Gould’s Pops-oriented work. He deserves credit for seeing how the regular rhythms of Bach’s contrapuntal compositions could easily be swung, three decades before the Swingle Singers and Jacques Loussier did. The fugue brings in jazz feeling quite effectively at the beginning and end. The last three minutes in particular are noteworthy – a dense and interesting workout that is jazzy but atonal, too. The conclusion, like some of the “slow movement” orchestral tutti, is a bit overwrought, but it is relieved by a winking clarinet gliss that undoubtedly tips Gould’s hat to Gershwin.

Recording: staff pianists of the Albany Symphony? (otherwise unidentified), p; Albany Symphony Orchestra; David Alan Miller, cond [Rec. 4/19/2008, Palace Theatre, Albany NY; issued on Albany CD, 2010] (Time: 16:21) Available via Spotify [in two parts]. Hisato Ohzawa (1907 - 1953): Piano Concerto No. 2 (1935) Ohzawa spent 1930 to 1933 in Boston, studying at Boston University, the New England Conservatory and the Malkin Conservatory. By the fall of 1934 he was in Paris, and by the spring of the next year he wrote this concerto for his own performance there. It is a neo-classical work, influenced a bit by Stravinsky and a bit by Gershwin, decorated with ornaments from jazz and Japanese traditional music. It’s just barely jazzy enough to be included in the list of pieces directly influenced by jazz, and certainly qualifies as one of the “French” works in the wakes of Ravel and Poulenc. Recommended recording: Ekaterina Saranceva, p; Russian Philharmonic; Dmitri Yablonsky, cond [Rec. 3/06, Moscow; issued on Naxos CD, 2008] (Time: 25:45) Available via Spotify [in three parts]. Leo [Leopold] Smit (1900 - 1943): Concerto for Piano and Wind Orchestra (1937) Dutch composer Smit, who died in the Sobibor (Poland) Concentration Camp during the Holocaust, should not be confused with American pianist-composer Leo Smit (1921 1999), who was a great exponent of Aaron Copland’s work. This concerto is undoubtedly influenced by Stravinsky’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (1923 - 24), but it’s more honestly jazzy. There is a very jaunty near-swing-band cadence in the first movement, a touch of blues in the second, and piano passages that alternately show the influences of Gershwin and Ravel in the third. Recording: Ronald Brautigam, p; winds of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra; Ed Spanjaard, cond [Rec. c. 1999; issued on N. M. Classics, 1999] (Time: 12:31) Available via YouTube (three separate transfers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8wpFIMlLeQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQjQ3tofmQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tq81p2j5AI Benjamin Britten (1913 -1976): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 13 (1938 version, with “Recitative and Aria” as third movement) This is one of the best of the jazz-influenced concertos, even if its jazz references are relatively few. In its original form, it is bold, mercurial, and virtuosic. Most of the jazz influences are in the “Recitative” section of the original third movement, which Britten withdrew in 1945. In this series of conversational exchanges between solo voices from the winds and the piano, the winds play it straight and the piano thumbs its nose at them, with a jazzy edge – or at least with a deliberate evocation of the irreverence of the

twenties. Heard in context, these touches throw a jazzy light on other moments in the work. Recommended recording: Ralf Gothóni, p; Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra; Okko Kamu, cond [Rec. 6/1994, Helsingborg Concert Hall, Helsingborg, Sweden; issued on Ondine CD, 1994; “Impromptu” (the 1945 substitution for “Recitative and Aria” is sequenced after “Recitative and Aria;” one can omit it to hear the work as originally conceived]. Also available via Spotify William Schuman (1910 - 1992): Concerto for Piano and [Small] Orchestra (1938, rev. 1942) The concerto is superbly written and beautifully structured. The jazz connection is not blatant here, but it is significant. Schuman uses rhythms associated with jazz to give the concerto drive and excitement. Syncopation marks the first and last movement, with notable Gershwin touches in the first. The cadenza in the last has the energy of jazz if not the form. Recommended recording: John McCabe, p; Albany Symphony Orchestra; David Allan Miller, cond [Rec. 3/16, 2002, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy NY; issued on Albany CD, 2003] (Time: 23:42) Available via Spotify [note: in Spotify listings, the movements are out of order – II, III, I]

The 1940s Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899-1974): New World A-Coming [for Piano and Large Jazz Ensemble] (1943) [There are at least two orchestrations of the work for piano and symphony orchestra, including strings. The first, c. 1970, is attributed to Luther Henderson; the second, c. 1988, was created by Maurice Peress.] This is the first “jazz piano concerto,” at least as the composer envisioned it. It is one of Ellington’s least-known long-form pieces, and the only one that is notated from start to finish, with no improvised contributions from members of his band, although the composer, as piano soloist, felt free to embellish at will. Despite Ellington’s intentions, this is a rhapsody – an elaboration on a series of themes – not exactly in Gershwin’s wake, but at least in some ways a nod to his work. Ellington also had a program in mind, a celebration of what he hoped was a wonderful future world of equality and success for African-Americans; the optimistic, anthemic conclusion rings even hollower now than it did in 1943. But the rest of the piece is very worthwhile.

Recommended recording [1943 version]: Ellington, p, cond; Duke Ellington Orchestra [Probably rec. 1943, location unidentified; issued on Gramercy Jazz as “An Evening with Duke Ellington”] (Time: 13:52) Available via Spotify Recommended recording [Peress re-orchestration, c. 1988]: Roland Hanna, p; American Composers Orchestra; Peress, cond [Rec. 6/27/1988, New York City; issued on MusicMasters LP as “Four Symphonic Works,”1989; reissued on Nimbus CD, 2008] Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfrIqRoPWo8 Morton Gould (1913 - 1995): Interplay aka American Concertette No. 1 [for Piano and Orchestra] (1943) As with Gould’s “Chorale and Fugue” (1934) this is hardly a Pops piece, especially in the first movement. Despite the small proportions, each of the four movements is wellcrafted and intriguing, and it deserves a central place in the survey just as Honegger’s Concertino does. In the first movement, there’s a hint of Gershwin’s piano concerto, a boogie feeling toward the end of the movement and some vigorous swing. The third movement is entitled “Blues: slow and relaxed,” and the music lives up to the title, with a slow walking rhythm and fine tremolo effects in the piano to decorate and deepen the blues feel. Recommended recording: Gould, p & cond; Robin Hood Dell Orchestra of Philadelphia [Rec. 8/1/1947, Academy of Music, Philadelphia; issued in Columbia 78-rpm set, 1948]. Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0GjbE09hDM Alternate recording: Findlay Cockerell, p; Albany Symphony Orchestra; David Alan Miller, cond [Rec. 5/18/2006, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy NY; Albany CD, 2010] (Time: 15:41) Available via Spotify [in four parts; note: movements are listed out of order – IV, I, II, III] Jurriaan Andriessen (1925-1996): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1947- 48) Andriessen, though born, raised, and trained in the Netherlands, went to Paris in the late 1940s to study with Olivier Messaien and he wrote this concerto there. In 1949 - 1952, he lived in the US and studied at Tanglewood. This might be considered the last of the “French” jazz-influenced concertos, full of humor and drive like its predecessors from Wiéner onward, with the caveat that Andriessen uses a considerably more modern harmonic palette. This also can be seen as the first of the “modern European” jazzinfluenced concertos, in which the jazz influences are no longer ironic but part of a broad palette of now-acceptable colors. From the first moment of the first movement, there is a feel of jazz just behind the music. The first piano statement has some very jazzy left-hand chord punctuations. Just before the cadenza, there is a very short string passage with swing feeling. The cadenza has a hint of blues. The second movement is smoky and

noirish, and one solo piano passage is remarkable for a jazz mood explored in much more depth by jazz musicians of the ’60s and later. Recording: David Kuyken, p; Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra; Alexander Vedernikov, cond [Rec. 11/1997, MCO Studio 1, Hilversum, Netherlands; issued on NM Classics, 2001] (Time: 17:46) Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=pBizYmsrITE Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1980): “The Age of Anxiety” (Symphony No. 2) for Piano and Orchestra, after W. H. Auden (1948, rev. 1965) This is not a concerto, as Bernstein’s designation of “Symphony” indicates. It might be characterized as a programmatic work with a prominent piano part, akin to Milhaud’s “La création du monde,” but on a much grander scale. Although it passes through a kaleidoscope of moods, it might be seen to have an overall pattern of slow (Prologue/Seven Ages) – fast (Seven Stages) – slow (Dirge) – fast (Masque) – slow (Epilogue), with a sober and reflective mood predominating. Only “The Masque” shows any jazz influence, but the jazz elements are prominent there. The rollicking juxtaposition of piano, celesta, xylophone, and off-stage piano in this section is unique among jazzinfluenced pieces, and may be unique in all of music. Recommended recording: Marc-André Hamelin, p; Ulster Orchestra, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, cond [Rec. 1/2000, Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland; issued on Hyperion CD, 2000] (Time: 35:31) Alternate recording: Leonard Bernstein, p & cond; New York Philharmonic [Rec. c. 1958; issued on Columbia LP, 1958; re-issued on Sony CD, 1999] Available via Spotify [in six parts; note: they are identified as being drawn from “Bernstein Conducts Bernstein”] Gian Carlo Menotti (1911 - 2007): Concerto in F for Piano and Orchestra (1948) This is a lively and colorful neo-classical work with some hints of jazz influence – slightly syncopated piano, a bluesy moment and some Gershwiny horn voicings in the first movement, a bit of muted trumpet and a stately phrase that is almost a quote from the slow movement of Gershwin’s concerto in the second, and some raggy-martial touches in the third. Recording: Earl Wild, p; Symphony of the Air; Jorge Mester, cond [Rec. 1961, probably New York City; released on Vanguard LP, 1961; reissued on Vanguard CD, 1995] (Time: 33:33) Available via Spotify.

The 1950s Malcolm Arnold (1921 - 2006): Concerto for Piano Duet and Strings, Op. 32 (1951) This is a very accomplished neo-classical piece with a wide range of moods. The jazz influences are mostly in the last two minutes of the second movement, although there are some hints of Gershwin in the third. Recording: Phillip Dyson & Kevin Sargent, p; Ulster Orchestra; Esa Heikkilä, cond [Rec. 3/15/07, Belfast; issued in “British Piano Concertos” series on Naxos CD, 2007] (Time: 21:46) Available via Spotify [in three parts]. Ned Rorem (1923 - ): Piano Concerto No. 2 (1951) Rorem’s spirit in this beautiful piece is close to that of Ravel or Gershwin, with some Coplandesque touches of open harmony; the work seems to me a very affectionate and heartfelt tribute to his predecessors. In the first movement, there are some moments of what might be called “modern ragtime,” and some bluesy piano towards the end. In the last movement, Rorem transforms the Gershwin touches into something that prefigures modern Broadway, and particularly Stephen Sondheim. The movement marking in that movement (“Real Fast!”) is probably unique in classical music. Recording: Simon Mulligan, p; Royal Scottish National Orchestra; José Serebrier, cond [Rec. 8/2006, Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow, Scotland; Naxos CD, 2007] (Time: 34:08) Available via Spotify [in three parts]. Leroy Anderson (1908 - 1975): Piano Concerto in C (1953) Anderson’s preeminence as a composer of so-called “light classical” music should not prevent this concerto from being included in this survey, although its relationship to jazz is tenuous. Surprisingly for a composer who gauged middlebrow taste so expertly, there is almost nothing of Gershwin in it. Instead, this is a concerto in the spirit of Rachmaninoff (although more modest in its ambitions), with popularly-oriented themes that are characteristically tuneful. There is a hint of swing in the fugato section of the first movement, some poppish Latinizing in the second, and a cheery folk-dance rhythm in the third (which sounds most typically Andersonish and veers a little too close to the schlocky for my taste). Recording: Jeffrey Biegel, p; BBC Concert Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, cond [Rec. c. 2008; Naxos CD, 2008] (Time: 19:22) Available via Spotify [in three parts]. Gottfried von Einem (1918 - 1996): Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 20 (1955)

Von Einem was born in Switzerland and his family moved to Austria when he was four. When he was 19, he relocated to Berlin, and lived in Germany throughout World War II, although he demonstrated anti-Nazi sympathies in a number of ways. In the notes to the Orfeo recording below, Otto Biba says, “[This concerto] makes audible the fact that von Einem tuned in to many of the forbidden American radio stations during his studies [during the 1930s], listening to jazz programmes, and that he profited from them as a composer (though they had no melodic influence on him).” This may be so, but the piece has little that can be readily identified as jazz except for a hint of jazz articulation in a number of passages in the third movement. Instead, it seems primarily to be a winking 20th-century commentary on Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto. Recording: Konstantin Lifschitz, p; Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Cornelius Meister, cond [Rec. 7 or 8/2008, ORF/Radiokulturhaus, Vienna; Orfeo CD, 2009 (Time: 21:00)]. Alternate recording (performers unidentified; however, it is obviously a transfer from a hi-fi LP, so it may be a recording from the 1960s, when Karajan and Fricsay both conducted it), available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkBeSwYO3eQ [Nadine] Dana Suesse (1909 - 1987): Concerto Romantico for Piano and Orchestra (1955) [Note: one source, quoted by Wikipedia, gives the date of composition as 1946, but this is probably a confusion with Ruth Schonthal’s piano concerto, which had the same title.] Suesse comes out from under Gershwin’s shadow in this piece, which is much different in tone from her Concerto in Three Rhythms (1932) It ought to be taken at face value, as a “Romantic” concerto, although Suesse adds a good deal of post-Romantic dissonance. There is just enough of a jazzish flavor in the first and third movements to consider it directly influenced. However, its musical value is compromised a good deal by gestures that seem too big for the frame on the one hand and too derivative from Rachmaninoff on the other. The only recording (below) shows the problems of rushed rehearsal, and perhaps a more sympathetic performance could reveal hidden depths. Recording: Cy Coleman, p; Members of the American Symphony Orchestra; Frederick Fennell, cond [Rec. 11/11/1974, New York City; from “The Night Is Young: The Historic 1974 New York Concert Recorded ‘Live,’” Premier CD, 1996] (Time: 19:07) No on-line version known. [Nadine] Dana Suesse (1909 - 1987): Jazz Concerto in D Major for Combo [Piano, String Bass and Traps] and Orchestra aka Concerto in Rhythm (1955)

This is most likely the first classical piano concerto to use the standard jazz rhythm section of string bass and trap drums. A distinctive vibraphone part makes it comparable to (but much less interesting than) Gunther Schuller’s Concertino for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra from four years later. There are many moments that feel like a traditional piano concerto. The work is a kind of colloid, an unblended mixture where the two contrasting sources maintain their individual identities. At one moment, late-Romantic passages for piano and orchestra suggest Rachmaninoff with more modern harmony. At others, the music is strongly jazz-inflected, with bass and traps, mostly as subtle underpinning. The first movement cadenza, without bass or traps, is adventurous harmonically without losing the basic key and slips almost into boogie-woogie at one point. Unfortunately, the only recording of the piece feels rushed and under-rehearsed, and is technically flawed, with bad balance and considerable concert hall noise, even including the sound of turning score pages. Recording: Cy Coleman, p; Richard Davis, b; Robert Thomas, dm; Members of the American Symphony Orchestra; Frederick Fennell, cond [Rec. 11/11/1974, New York City; from “The Night Is Young: The Historic 1974 New York Concert Recorded ‘Live,’” Premier CD, 1996] (Time: 20:17) David Broekman (1899 - 1958): Concerto for Piano, Percussion and Orchestra (“A Parisian in New York: To the Memory of George Gershwin”) (1955) Broekman’s son Hendrik brought this piece to my attention, and the title makes it obvious that this concerto should be included in the chronology. David Broekman had a long career as an accomplished composer / arranger for film and television, but had ambitions for greater things. Hendrik Broekman noted, “I grew up in the ’50s within a block of Spanish Harlem and on summer nights I heard long bongo jams wafting up from the streets below. I’m certain those sounds were included among more conventional Cuban riffs in the 1st movement cadenza which is scored for piano and percussion.” David Broekman began a second piano concerto but died before it could be completed. It is tantalizing and regrettable that this concerto has not been rediscovered. No recording known. Günter Bialas (1907 - 1995): Jazz-Promenade [for Piano and Orchestra] (1956) Described by Maurice Hinson. Hinson simply notes the length of the piece (18 minutes), which makes it unlikely to qualify as a concerto for this survey. Bialas was a German composer, contemporary with Constant Lambert and Dana Suesse. No recording known.

Nikolai Kapustin (1937 - ): Concerto for Piano and Non-Standard [Jazz] Band No. 1, Op. 2 (1957) Kapustin, a Ukrainian-born composer, was introduced to jazz via the Voice of America in his mid-teens and it became his lifelong passion. This is a student piece written for his own performance at the Sixth International Festival of Youth and Students, held in Moscow in 1957, when he was around 20. I have not heard it, but, from the evidence of his later works (see below) it must be jazz-influenced, and perhaps may be more jazz than classical in character. No recording known. Malcolm Williamson (1931 - 2003): Piano Concerto No. 1 in A (1958) Williamson, an Australian composer who spent much of his life in England and became thoroughly a part of the British music scene, is often spoken about as an eccentric whose works are a kind of grab-bag of effects from many genres, including jazz. His first concerto is much more straightforward than his later ones. It is a bright and appealing neo-classical piece without direct jazz influence. However, a brief and slight accenting towards jazz phrasing in the horn parts of the first movement make it worth a mention. Recording: Piers Lane, p; strings of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Howard Shelley, cond [Rec. 7/2012, Federation Concert Hall, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; issued as part of “The Complete Piano Concertos” on Hyperion CD, 2014] (Time: 18:08) No on-line recording known. Gunther Schuller (1925 - ): Concertino for Jazz Quartet [Piano, Vibraphone, String Bass and Traps] and Orchestra (1959) This is the only work by Schuller that comes close to being a jazz-influenced concerto for piano and orchestra, so it needs to be included here, first as an homage to the greatest exponent of jazz-classical conversation, but also because it is an outstanding piece of music no matter how you want to classify it. It was written for the Modern Jazz Quartet – pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heath, and drummer Connie Kay – and includes substantial opportunities for improvisation in each movement. Jazz effects abound, but perhaps the most prominent are some stabbing orchestral interjections under the quartet in the first movement that approximate big-band riffs, an elegant blues atmosphere in the second, and some sharp stop-time in the third. Recording: Bruce Barth, p; Tom Beckham, vib; Edwin Schuller, b; George Schuller, dm; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, cond [Rec 10/10/99, Jordan Hall, Boston, issued on “Journey into Jazz,” BMOP Sound CD, 2008.] (Time: 19:04) Available via Spotify [in three parts]

The 1960s William Alwyn (1905 - 1985): Piano Concerto No. 2 (1960) Recording: Peter Donohoe, p; Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; James Judd, cond [Rec. 5/2004, Concert Hall, Lighthouse, Poole, UK; issued on Naxos CD, 2005] (Time: 28:40) Alternate recording: Howard Shelley, p; London Symphony Orchestra; Richard Hickox, cond [Issued on Chandos CD, 2001] Available via Spotify. Malcolm Williamson (1931 - 2003): Piano Concerto No. 2 in f-sharp minor (1960) Williamson’s second piano concerto is a good-humored piece, with some Shostakovichstyle sarcasm in the first and third movements. It is scored for piano and strings, without horns, winds, or percussion, giving it an intimate feel. Jazz touches in the first movement include a raggy moment in the opening theme and a near-Gershwin countertheme. There is substantial jazz influence in the third, including a retro-twenties feel in the first theme and a taste of popular song later on. Recommended recording: Piers Lane, p; strings of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Howard Shelley, cond [Rec. 4/2013, Federation Concert Hall, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; issued as part of “The Complete Piano Concertos,” on Hyperion CD, 2014] (Time: 15:48) Alternate recording: Williamson, p; Francis Chagrin Orchestra; Chagrin, cond. Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0owk-BgiA8 Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981): Piano Concerto (1962) This is a brilliant, dramatic and exciting work, with a hauntingly lyrical middle movement. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 1963. Motoric figures in the piano part shade towards jazz, especially in the first movement, and there are some slurry trombone slides in the third, but jazz has no real impact on the work. Recording: John Browning, p; St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, cond (Time: 27:01) Available via Spotify. Boris Ivanovich Tishchenko (1939 - 2010): Piano Concerto, Op. 21 (1962) According to the notes by Andrey Denisov on the Northern Flowers CD release, this is a student composition, Tishchenko’s “graduation work” from his studies at the RimskyKorsakov College of Leningrad Conservatory. It ingeniously blends ironic humor,

Shostakovich, neo-classicism, and jazz into a distinctive stew. In the first movement, the piano’s first solo statement has strong forward motion that is jazz-ish and Bach-ish at the same time. The next piano statement has another taste of jazz, resolving to obsessively repeated chords in the left hand. A later piano solo statement shows direct jazz influence, rocking into a dissonant clash with the orchestra. The third movement has another jazzy moment, leading to a couple of (possibly unintentional) near-quotes of “Bei Mir Bistu Shein” (Sholom Secunda / Jacob Jacobs / Sammy Cahn [1932 / 1937]), one of which gets a very jazzy presentation. Recording: Tishchenko, p; Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra; Igor Blazhkov, cond [Rec. 1966, St. Petersburg, Russia; issued on Northern Flowers CD, 2008]. Regrettably, the transfer here is rather dull-sounding, and there are a couple of audible digital errors. The CD also mis-transliterates Tishchenko’s name as “Tischenko,” outside and inside. Available via Spotify. Malcolm Williamson (1931 - 2003): Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat (1962) Stylistically, this piece falls between Williamson’s mostly tonal first and second concertos and his serially aggressive two-piano concerto. The jazz influences are almost marginal here until the last movement, when the piece turns upside down with a wild melding of Stravinsky and Gershwin with a touch of Bernstein, and a near-big-band conclusion. Recommended recording: Piers Lane, p; Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Howard Shelley, cond [Rec. 4/2013, Federation Concert Hall, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; issued as part of “The Complete Piano Concertos,” on Hyperion CD, 2014] (Time: 30:04) Alternate recording: Williamson, p; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Leonard Dommett, cond [Rec. early 1970s?; issued on Lyrita LP, 1975; reissued in “British [sic] Piano Concertos” on Lyrita CD, 2014 ] (Time: 32:15) Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjpC-qaRsJs. Dave Brubeck (1920 - 2012) [ed. Rayburn Wright]: Elementals [for Jazz Quartet (Piano, Alto Saxophone, String Bass, and Traps) and Orchestra] (1963) This is a theme-and-variations work for jazz combo and orchestra, not a concerto, but it is well worth hearing, and provides another example of the form previously tried by Suesse and Schuller. After the theme is introduced, there is ample opportunity for improvised soloing over a modal structure in 3/4 time. Recording: Brubeck, p; Paul Desmond, as; Eugene Wright, b; Joe Morello, dm; studio orchestra of unidentified New York-based musicians; Rayburn Wright, cond [Rec. 12/12/63, New York City; issued on Columbia LP, 1964; re-issued on Columbia / Legacy CD, c. 2004] (Time: 16:35) Available via Spotify.

Francis Thorne (1922 - ): Rhapsodic Variations No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra (1964 - 65) Described by Maurice Hinson. I have not heard the piece, but its relationship to the chronology is clearly marginal from the title alone. Hinson cites a strong influence of jazz and serialism in Thorne’s music. He says, “A late bloomer, Thorne switched from business and jazz piano to serious composing at age 43.” He describes the Rhapsodic Variations as “interesting material, [with] expert use of the jazz idiom; properly unrestrained at spots.” Recording: Thorne, p; Warsaw Polish National Radio / TV Symphony Orchestra; William Strickland, cond. [Rec 1966, Warsaw, Poland, released c. 1966 on CRI LP; reissued on CRI CD, 2001] (Time: 13:29) No on-line recording known. Rodion Shchedrin (1932 - ): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 (1966) The harmonic language is uncompromisingly modern in this piece, but there’s a bit of humor if you know where to look. Jazz provides a huge surprise in the third movement, entitled “Contrasts.” It begins with an almost static orchestral foundation over which the pianist stabs softly. This introduction slowly unfolds into a dark cloud of strings, and then forward motion begins with the piano, at about 3:30 into the movement. There is a sudden swing-band-like smear from the orchestra, and the piano continues, but it jumps into the first of three quick passages accompanied by walking bass and traps; the second and third have vibraphone as well. Recommended recording: Marc-Andre Hamelin, p; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Litton, cond [Rec. 3/03, Dundee, Scotland; issued on Hyperion CD, 2003] (Time: 21:26) Alternate recording: Nikolai Petrov, p; USSR Symphony Orchestra; Yevgeni Svetlanov, cond. Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR5d9o3KBhc Gaston Brenta (1902 - 1969): Concerto II [for Piano and Orchestra] (1968) This is a neoclassical piece in atonal clothes, with marginal jazz influences. It could be more or less jazzy depending on the sensitivities of the soloist and conductor. There is a mid-movement piano passage in the first that shades towards jazz articulation ever so slightly. The third begins with some near-jazz over a Stravinskyish setup and syncopation makes a brief appearance towards the end, where the jazz hint becomes just a bit stronger. Recording: Andre De Groote, p; Belgian National Orchestra; Fredereik Devreese, cond (Time: 19:24) Available via YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGISWa6uHoI Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012): Piano Concerto (1968) Recording: Stephen Kovacevich, p; London Symphony Orchestra; Alexander Gibson, cond. [Rec. 1/1971, Wembley Town Hall, Wembley, UK; Issued on Decca (UK) CD, and on Lyrita CD, 2007]. No on-line recording known.

The 1970s Jean Wiéner (1896 - 1982): Concerto [no. 2] pour orchestre et piano principal (1970) It is easy to read into this concerto a nostalgia for the days of twenties Paris, when Wiéner was part of the excitement and the innovation. There are some tiny feints at the rhythms of novelty-rag and stride piano, some clever twists of harmony, and a couple of lovely melancholic themes. The jokes and surprises of Milhaud and Poulenc are here, too. However, to call this work jazz-influenced would be an exaggeration. Recommended recording: Wiéner, p; studio orchestra; Andre Girard, cond [Rec. c. 1970, possibly Paris; issued with Wiéner’s Accordion Concerto and Cello Sonata; reissued on Arion CD, 1992 (Time: 20:55)] Available via Spotify [in three parts] David Amram (1930 - ): Triple Concerto [for Woodwind Quintet, Brass Quintet, Jazz Quintet (Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Piano / French Horn / Pakistani Flute / Dumbek, String Bass, and Traps) and String Orchestra] (1970) Amram is sui generis, a performer / composer grounded equally in jazz, classical, and world music (mostly the improvisational music traditions from cultures of western and central Asia, from the Middle East to the subcontinent). This work falls far outside the range of the piano concerto survey, but its unique character requires it to be mentioned. The piano has a very minor role here and the work is almost unperformable without the composer, since Amram divides his playing among four instruments that are radically different from one another, and he calls for circular breathing in his use of the Pakistanti flute which would challenge any but the best musician. The Triple Concerto is more in the nature of a sinfonia concertante – a symphony with prominent solo roles for a variety of instruments – rather than the concerto grosso that the title might suggest. The brass quintet and woodwind quintet do not have significant contributions as distinct identities, so the overall impression is of an orchestral work with many solo voices. The jazz quintet only briefly performs as a unit, but three of the members of the group (the two saxophonists and Amram) have prominent roles as soloists / improvisers. Any alternate performance would require four soloists of great skill to fill his position in the “jazz quintet,” turning the piece into a concerto for jazz nonet and orchestra. Amram has solved the thorny problem of integrating improvisation effectively into a composed context, but he has done so in a way that almost prohibits imitation. He uses various devices to free up the musical structure for improvisation – giving the rhythm section of the quintet a chordal foundation for the soloists, setting up chord structures in the strings over which he can solo on French horn, and setting a modal framework for the Pakistani flute improvisation in the third movement. Recommended recording: Amram, p, Frh, Pakistani flute, dumbek; Jerry Dodgion, as; Pepper Adams, bari; Herb Bushler, b [amplified string bass]; Al Harewood, dm; Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; David Zinman, cond [Rec. 1973, Eastman Theater, Rochester, NY, issued on Flying Fish CD, 1998] (Time: 30:45)

Alternate recording [third movement only, with video]: Amram, Pakistani flute, cond; Jerry Dodgion, as; Pepper Adams, bari; Al Harewood, dm; Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOv-La5lk4 Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012): Party Piece, “For Young Players” [for Piano and Chamber Orchestra] (1971) This work contains all the basic elements of a fast-slow-fast concertino, but its modest ambitions put it a bit outside the frame of this chronology. It’s a glittering little bauble, with vivid orchestration, showing Bennett’s mastery of his craft and disguising its nature as a piece for below-symphony-level players. About two minutes in, a Gershwinny blues strain makes a strong statement and leads into a jazzy piano passage. Some clarinet slurs and other jazz effects decorate the orchestral writing. About halfway through, the andante (introduced by solo piano) is almost perfect Gershwin-blues, with a near-quote from the second piano prelude. The fast conclusion quite effectively splits the difference between Ravel and Gershwin. Recording available via YouTube [with video] (Mya King, p): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMdDAeuxikE Malcolm Williamson (1931 - 2003): Concerto [in a minor] for Two Pianos and String Orchestra (1971) This is a starkly different piece from Williamson’s three previous piano concertos (1958, 1960, & 1962). It has a lot of rhythmic power, thanks to jazzy rhythms in the first and last movements, and the middle movement has a magical Bartokian quality, but the hardedged serial palette (despite the stated tonality) makes it much less amiable than the previous works. In the first movement, a jazzy drive is set up after a short introduction and it continues until the last minute, sometimes strongly driven by clusters from the pianos, sometimes just pushed by the orchestra. There are moments that suggest what Cecil Taylor might have sounded like if he had ever made a record with strings. Recommended recording: Piers Lane & Howard Shelley, p; strings of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Shelley, cond [Rec. 4/2013, Federation Concert Hall, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; issued as part of “The Complete Piano Concertos,” on Hyperion CD, 2014] (Time: 19:50) Alternate recording: Williamson & Simon Campion, p; strings of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Barry Tuckwell, cond [Rec. early 1970s?; issued on “Australian Piano Concertos,” ABC Classics CD] (Time: 20:13) Available via Spotify.

David Baker (1931 - ): Two Improvisations for Orchestra and Jazz Combo [Piano, String Bass, and Traps] (1972) Cited in list of Baker’s compositions found in David N. Baker, Lida M. Belt, and Herman C. Hudson (eds.), The Black Composer Speaks (Scarecrow Press, 1978, Metuchen, NJ & London). Baker has been active in both jazz and classical, and he has written many hybrid pieces. This work is undoubtedly jazz-influenced, but its form and description place it beyond the range of the concerto survey. No recording known. Hale Smith (1925 - 2009): Concert Music for Piano and Orchestra (1972) Cited in list of Smith’s compositions found in David N. Baker, Lida M. Belt, and Herman C. Hudson (eds.), The Black Composer Speaks (Scarecrow Press, 1978, Metuchen, NJ & London). It is included in this chronology for completeness, because Smith was active in both jazz and classical. There is very little written about it, and what is written does not mention a jazz influence. No recording known. George Russell (1923 - 2009): Living Time [for Piano / Electric Piano and Large Jazz Ensemble] (1972; rev. 1995, orch. w. Pat Hollenbeck) This is the only full-length work for piano soloist and orchestra by jazz composer George Russell, so it must be included in the chronology. However, it is so different from a classical piano concerto that it offers almost no points of comparison. The piece is divided into “events” rather than movements, in keeping with Russell’s vertical form concept; some events are powerfully rhythmic and some are almost static. The music is not intended to flow from point A to point B, but rather to create a series of impressions that constitute a whole when they all have been explored. There are ample opportunities for improvisation from the pianist, and from several voices in the ensemble, including prominent solos for trumpet and tenor saxophone. The original version was for jazz ensemble only; the revised version added a full string section, and supplemental brass, winds, and percussion. In both versions, it is a masterpiece of entirely original form. Recommended recording (first version): Bill Evans, p & elec p; “George Russell Orchestra,” an ensemble of New York-based musicians selected by the composer; Russell, cond [Rec. 1972, New York City; Columbia LP, 1972; reissued on Japanese Sony CD, 2010] Recommended recording (second version): Paul-Christian Staicu, p; Brad Hatfield & Steve Lodder, elec kb; “Living Time Orchestra” (an ensemble of musicians selected by the composer and active as his working group) with additional brass and winds; 15

string players (Régis Huby, cmstr) drawn from Conservatoire national supérieure de musique et de danse de Paris, Conservatoire d’Aubervilliers, Conservatoire de Montreuil, & Orchestre de Picardie; Russell, cond [Rec. 1995, Paris; issue on Label Bleu CD, 1995] (Time: 49:07) Available via Spotify. Claus Ogerman (1930 - ): Symbiosis [for Piano / Electric Piano and Orchestra] (1973? 1974) Claus Ogerman was born in Poland. He has primarily been known as arranger, orchestrator, and conductor in jazz and popular music projects. This is his only full-length work for piano soloist and orchestra, and it is one of his most important classicallyoriented works. It has been perceived as a “reply” to George Russell’s “Living Time,” since it follows that work by about a year and constitutes a more conventional piece for jazz soloist (Bill Evans, the same pianist featured in “Living Time”) and jazz orchestra augmented by strings. This is unfortunate, because the work has much to recommend it, even though it does not represent groundbreaking innovation. There are two movements. Ogerman describes them as a pair of night pieces, but both present a variety of moods and tempos. Ogerman provides ample solo space for the pianist, and parts of the work function like previous combo-and-orchestra pieces, with bass and drums improvising beneath the piano. Recommended recording: Bill Evans, p & elec p; Eddie Gomez, b; Marty Morell, dm; Ralph McDonald, cga; studio orchestra of New York City-based musicians; unidentified string playerss led by David Nadien, v, cmstr; Ogerman, cond [Rec. 2/74; issued as “Bill Evans: Symbiosis,” on MPS / BASF LP, 1974; reissued on Polygram / MPS CD, 1995 and MPS CD, 2014] (Time: 41:02) Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlmTTqUGb5Y Nikolai Kapustin (1937 - ): Concerto for Piano, [Jazz] Band, and Strings No. 2, Op. 14 (1974) Between Kapustin’s first piano concerto (1957) and this work, there are seventeen years and just twelve works with opus numbers, fewer than one work a year. In 1974, he produced three piano-and-band works with opus numbers, beginning with the concerto (the others are his Etude, Op. 19 and Nocturne, Op. 20). All of these pieces strike the ear as jazz / pop vehicles, and the recordings of them demonstrate Kapustin’s ability as a pianist. All were recorded with the Oleg Lundstrem band, supplemented by strings in this concerto and the Nocturne. Lundstrem’s group was a jazz big band, with some flourishes of a Las Vegas-style show orchestra. The compositional material of the concerto is slight, with some moments reminiscent of repertoire of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and others recalling the middle-of-the-road recordings of Roger Williams or Don Shirley. Even so, Kapustin shows off considerable ability as a pianist, especially in the third movement. The first movement of the concerto is based on Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm,” and the third is based on a Bud Powell line.

Recording available via YouTube (Kapustin, p) [three separate uploads]: I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yNI3k6RUZw II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o8fAKnMQXM III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqEuakbrSg0 Zinovy Yurievich Binkin (1913 - 1985): Concertino for Jazz and Sympho-Jazz (1974) Described by Maurice Hinson: “One large movement. Jazz elements rather effective.” Several of Binkin’s Soviet-era commemorative marches are available on YouTube, and none of them show a hint of jazz. No recording known. George Walker (1922 - ): Piano Concerto (1975) Walker is the first African-American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music (1996). In his prime, he was also a virtuoso pianist. This work is yet another anomaly for this survey: a classical concerto by an African-American composer with only one minute musical gesture that can be readily identified as jazz-inflected. And yet, the spiritual influence of jazz is here – Walker says that the second movement is “a personal and musical memorial to Duke Ellington,” who died while Walker was composing the piece. This movement is a beautiful atonal elegy, but the only shard of jazz that appears is a tiny passage of growl trumpet. Recommended recording: Rochelle Sennet, p; Sinfonia Varsovia; Ian Hobson, cond [Rec. c. 20111; Albany CD, 2012. (Time: 24:03)] Available via Spotify. William Bolcom (1938 - ): Concerto for Piano and Large Orchestra (1976) Bolcom says that this work is simultaneously a bitter reaction to the US bicentennial and a “wry commentary” on Gershwin’s Concerto in F, “particularly in its episodic form.” Both statements are well-fulfilled by the music, and there are several notable jazz touches. The first movement opens with solo piano, almost like the slow strain of a rag – a form that Bolcom knows well, as an interpreter of classic ragtime in his recordings from the 1970s and as a composer of his own rags. Peter Dickinson, in his notes to the Hyperion CD, notes “stride tempo to build to the climax” of the movement. The second movement has a couple of hints at the Gershwin piano preludes. The third has become famous for its Ivesian pastiche of patriotic tunes, turn-of-the-(20th) century parlor tunes, traditional Americana, and show music. It’s a great pile of jokes, but there’s something elegiac, even sinister, lurking beneath it.

Recommended recording: Marc-André Hamelin, p; Ulster Orchestra, Dimitri Sitkovetsky, cond [Hyperion CD, 2000; (Time: 23:48)] No on-line recording known. David Baker (1931 - ): Concerto for Two Pianos, Jazz Band, Strings and Percussion (1976) This concerto has a great deal to recommend it, and, because of its form and approach, it stands apart from every other work in the chronology. Baker says that it is the eighth in a series of concertos “involving the classical music (western art music) and jazz band.” He describes it as “in many respects the most individualistic of the lot . . . [because of] the fusion of jazz, rock, folk, and art music elements; the combination of improvisational and written elements; . . use of . . . exotic instruments in movement two; . . . [and] use of the harmonic structure of George Gershwin’s ‘warhorse’ I Got Rhythm.” He also notes that the work was directly influenced by Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra. It is scored for 55 players: two piano soloists, a jazz ensemble (composed of five trumpets, four trombones, tuba, five saxophones, electric guitar, two pianos used as part of the ensemble, electric bass, traps, and miscellaneous percussion), 24 strings, and an eight-member percussion ensemble (including vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, tympani and various untuned instruments). Baker’s harmonic language is atonal but well-grounded, certainly influenced by Bartók, and probably by George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept (there is a direct hint of Russell’s influence in the third movement). But Baker boldly goes his own way, using plenty of contrasts in rhythm and orchestral color, and what ultimately proves to be a “classical” approach to the themes and development. Jazz influences are everywhere in the piece. There is a notable Latin jazz passage in the first movement, and some clearly-improvised piano passages in the third, using Baker’s contrafact of Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.” There may be other improvisational touches elsewhere, but they are so well-integrated into the piece that they never call attention to themselves. Even the introduction of a Beethovenian flourish in the last movement doesn’t derail Baker’s essential purpose. Recommended recording: Charles H. Webb & Wallace Hornibrook, p; Jazz Ensemble, String Orchestra, and Percussion Ensemble composed of musicians associated with Indiana University; Baker, cond [Rec. c. 1982, Musical Arts Center, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN; issued with Baker’s “Give and Take” for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble, Laurel LP, 1982; reissued, Laurel CD, 2010 (Time: 32:00)] No on-line recording known. Roger Dickerson (1934 - ): New Orleans Concerto, for Piano and Orchestra (1976) Dickerson is active in both jazz and classical, and he has a long association with the music of New Orleans. This work was commissioned by the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra. It would be surprising if there were no jazz influence here. I have not heard it. No recording known.

Keith Emerson (1944 - ) [orch. w. John Mayer]: Piano Concerto No. 1 (1977) Emerson was the keyboard player in the art-rock trio Emerson Lake and Palmer, His concerto is part of a long line of classical music by dilettantes, not that there’s anything wrong with that. One has to give him credit for making an attempt at a form he obviously admires, when that attempt certainly didn’t broaden his appeal in any perceptible way in the 1970s. If the concerto isn’t the best classical piece I have ever heard, it certainly isn’t the worst. The cadenza in the first movement contains two surprisingly direct jazz gestures, including a Keith Jarrett-style modal vamp – just four years after Jarrett issued the first of his solo concert recordings – over which Emerson (possibly) improvises. In both of these moments, Emerson has the form of jazz piano substantially correct, if he does quite capture a jazz spirit. Unfortunately, these passages don’t add anything except a sense that he might have done more in this vein if he had chosen to. Recording: Emerson, amplified p; London Philharmonic Orchestra; Mayer, cond; issued on “Works,” Atlantic LP, 1977; reissued on Essential CD, 1996] (Time 18:18) Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqU_aTuuN3E

The 1980s Paul Schoenfield (1947 - ): Four Parables for Piano and Orchestra (1982 - 83) Schoenfield’s very distinctive music draws from many influences, and this concerto has great appeal. In a composer profile on the Milken Archive website, he says: “I don’t consider myself an art-music composer at all. The reason my works sometimes find their way into concert halls is . . . there aren’t many folk music performers with enough technique, time or desire to perform my music.” Andreas Boyde, who played the European premiere of “Four Parables,” referred to it as a “piano concerto,” but I have placed it outside the core works in this chronology for a number of reasons. First of all, it is specifically programmatic, with each movement portraying a particular situation. Second, although it comes close to the traditional fast-slow-fast concerto form, the addition of a second movement with a variety of tempi works against this structure. Third, the piano does not contest or converse with the orchestra; it cooperates with the ensemble in a joint adventure. There are jazz influences a-plenty here, and despite the variety of inspirations in the piece, these influences give it an interesting coherence. Each movement has a section or sections in which walking bass and traps are explicitly used, and there are many moments where a swing feel or a syncopated fillip accent the music. But these jazz colors are not satiric or honorific, to name arbitrarily the ends of a possible continuum of reference. Schoenfield is comfortable as few other classical composers are with the whole spectrum of American music, and the extra-classical references here seem to spring naturally from his overall purpose. Most of the jazz is in Movement IV (entitled

“Dog Heaven”). In his notes to Andrew Russo’s recording of the piece, Russo says that this movement “derives its title from . . . [Schoenfield’s attempt to comfort] two young children whose pet was given away by their mother as a punishment. [He] invented a fantastic story about a jazz club in ‘Dog Heaven,’ a canine Paradiso where the streets are lined with bones and there is a fire hydrant on every corner.” This movement strongly evokes the 1920s, from Gershwinisms to piano figures that suggest Zez Confrey’s “Kitten on the Keys” (1921), to tuba effects that underline the brass much in the style of early swing bands, to an almost note-for-note quote from James P. Johnson’s “Carolina Shout” (1923), to some rude trombone slides in the finale. Recommended recording: Jeffrey Kahane, p; New World Symphony; John Nelson, cond [Rec. 2007?; issued on Decca CD, 2007] (Time: 27:31) Available via Spotify [in four parts; note: movements are listed out of order – IV, I, II, III] Alternate recording: Andrew Russo, p; Prague Philharmonia; JoAnn Falletta, cond [Rec. 2007; issued on Black Box / Sanctuary CD, 2007] (Time: 26:52) Tobias Picker (1954 - ): Keys to the City [for Piano and Orchestra] (also known as Piano Concerto No. 2, “Keys to the City”) (1983) This impressive work has significant jazz influences, refracted distinctively through a very personal prism. It was commissioned for the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge, but Picker chose not to evoke the music of the 1880s. Instead, he drew on the 1920s, and specifically Gershwin, especially at the close. The piece unfolds in a single movement with clear divisions into fast-slow-fast sections. The overall language is not tonal, but jazz moods are suggested throughout and finally made explicit in the closing “movement.” Notable jazz touches include dirty” smears from the brass in the first section, a hint of “train rhythm” and more than a hint of blues in the second, and a boogieish section in the third. Recording: Picker, p; Brooklyn Philharmonic; Lukas Foss, cond [Rec. 1/7/85, Manhattan Center, New York City; issued on CRI CD, 1988] (Time: 19:04) Available via Spotify. Alternate recording: Jeremy Denk, p; Russian Philharmonic Orchestra; Thomas Sanderling, cond [Rec. 2 - 4 / 2002, Studio 5, Moscow State Broadcasting House, Moscow; issued on Chandos CD, 2003] (Time: 19:30) Available via Spotify. Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea (1941 - ): Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra [with String Bass and Traps] (1983 - 86; rev. 1999) In its first version, this was the first true piano concerto from a jazz composer since James P. Johnson’s “Concerto Jazz-a-mine” (1934), discounting a modest use of bass and drums. At that time, it was a work for strings and piano soloist, with a few wind, brass, and percussion players used for color, and a jazz rhythm section used sparingly. As Corea

developed it over more than a decade, he called for the rhythm section to take a greater role, edging things closer to the combo-and-orchestra format and away from the traditional classical model. I try to be generous when listening to it, but it still seems like a tentative step towards classical from a composer much more comfortable in jazz. Corea made much of his love of Mozart in conceiving the concerto, but the harmonic language draws more from Aaron Copland (in the third movement especially) and the impressionists (including a near-quote from Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin” in the first movement). The scoring is where he pays his debt to Mozart. The first movement is decidedly Spanish, with some flamenco handclaps and a definite use of Latin rhythms. The second is a true slow movement, and the third brings in a more “American” feel. Throughout, the string melodies are much like Corea’s familiar improvised piano lines, except that they’ve been orchestrated and harmonized. Recording: Corea, p & cond; Avishai Cohen, b; Jeff Ballard, dm; London Symphony Orchestra (Rec. 4/3/1999, Air / Lyndhurst Hall, Hampstead, UK; issued on Sony CD, 1999). Available via Spotify. Nikolai Kapustin (1937 - ): Concerto for Piano, [Jazz] Band, and Orchestra [without Brass Instruments] No. 3, Op. 48 (1985) From the evidence of the other Kapustin concertos (see above and below), this is undoubtedly jazz-influenced. I haven’t heard it. No recording known. Friedrich Gulda (1930 - 2000): Concerto for Myself: Sonata concertante for Piano and Orchestra [with Electric Bass and Traps] (1988) I have not been able to hear the entire piece, but from the fourth movement alone, the work clearly belongs within the core survey of jazz-influenced concertos. Gulda’s description of the third movement (“Free Cadenza”) suggests that he calls for the soloist to improvise. Its form is a bit unusual – four movements without a real slow movement. Regrettably, considering Gulda’s passion for jazz and his great gifts as a pianist, it does not appear to be the most serious or worthwhile of the pieces surveyed. Movement IV is entitled “For U and U / and you and you / all of me / for all of you.” Much of the music in it draws strongly from Beethoven, including some direct quotes. However, it see-saws back and forth between an absolutely straight classical feel and jazz passages with rather ham-handed electric bass and drums. Gulda is probably being deliberately joky, but even when heard with the most generous ear, this seems slight and one-dimensional music. Recording [fourth movement only]: Gulda, p & cond; NDR Symphony Orchestra. Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5bPD-evgI8

Recording [fourth movement only]: unidentified pianist; Belgrade Philharmonic, Vladimir Kulenovič, cond. Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Q91yoJjnc Nikolai Kapustin (1937 - ): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra [with String Bass and Traps] No. 4, Op. 56 (1989) Of the Kapustin concertos I have been able to hear, this is the one with the greatest potential for the mainstream concert hall and the one that most successfully integrates jazz and classical into a coherent entity. Overall, it’s a fascinating finger-point in a direction never explored by other composers, essentially proving that absolutely authentic jazz vernacular can be incorporated into a written piece without sacrificing an absolutely echt classical objective. Maybe the piano stuff is derivative. Maybe the orchestral writing is pedestrian. Maybe the harmonies aren’t very challenging. But such fun! And it is a monster workout for the pianist. The opening theme is in 8/8, a real honky-tonk-trainboogie feel, complete with walking bass and drums from the orchestra, with some nice harmonies. Later there is a lovely solo piano section which could be an improv by any of the post-Bill Evans pianists, including a clear quote from “Autumn in New York” (Vernon Duke [Vladimir Dukelsky], 1934). The orchestral accompaniment is unfortunately rather generic, but it picks up “Autumn in New York,” and the tune is quoted again a few minutes later. There’s a passage that sounds like a jazz improvisation, including a devilish two-hand run. A hint of “Autumn in New York” returns, and then there is a real swing passage for piano with orchestral accompaniment that sounds completely natural in this context. Boogie returns, but less boogieish than before. A huge killer solo cadenza mixes elements of Oscar Peterson, McCoy Tyner, and Herbie Hancock, and a hint or two of “Autumn in New York,” and there is a full-tilt conclusion, with trilling flutes a la Lalo Schifrin. Recording: Ludmil Angelov, p; Orquestra Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia, Jose Miguel Rodilla, cond. [Rec. c. 2005, probably Murcia, Spain] (Time: 21:43) Available on YouTube (in two parts): I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euKsB44B4JU II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0rS7_mWOCA

The 1990s Wendell Logan (1940 - 2010): Roots, Branches, Shapes and Shades (of Green), for Piano and Orchestra (1991) This is not a concerto. It is an effective and atmospheric tone poem in one movement, with modern but not aggressive harmony, where jazz elements are used for color and dynamics, not as ends in themselves. It also is one of the rare classical works that incorporates (or seems to incorporate) true improvisation by the soloist. Jazz influences

are implicit throughout, made explicit about three minutes into the piece, with a twominute passage of walking bass and ride cymbal. This returns for the conclusion of the work The piano part seems mostly written, although some passages suggest at least some flexibility in interpretation. There is a cadenza which may be partly improvised. Neal Creque, who plays the solo part in the only recording, is a jazz pianist, or more properly, a fine pianist best known for his jazz recordings. Recording: Neal Creque, p; Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Edwin London (cond) [Rec. Cleveland State University, 1997?; issued on Albany CD, 1998] (11:37) No on-line recording known. Lee Hyla (1938 - 2014): Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra No. 2 (1991) Despite the unusual instrumentation (including hammered dulcimer, bass clarinet and contrabassoon) and the four-movement structure (played attacca, without a “slow movement” per se), this piece is called a concerto, and it walks the talk. It deserves a place alongside the Smit and Lambert concertos, and provides interesting comparisons with them. Hyla’s personal musical language draws from a wide range of sources. This piece is sparked by moments of swinging, yawpy outbursts (especially from bass clarinet and trombone) that evoke the 1960s jazz New Thing, and piano clusters a la Cecil Taylor, all integrated into a landscape that is comfortably and completely avant-garde. Recommended recording: Aleck Karis, p; Speculum Musicae, William Purvis, cond. [Issued in “We Speak Etruscan,” on New World CD, 1996] (Time: 19:35) Available via Spotify. Michel Camilo (1954 - ): Rhapsody for Two Pianos and Orchestra (1992) Dominican-born jazz pianist Camilo has written several works for piano(s) and orchestra. In so far as I know, this was the first, and it is likely from the evidence of his first concerto for single piano that this piece is directly jazz-influenced. From its title, however, it does not appear to be a traditional concerto. I have not heard it. No recording known. Nikolai Kapustin (1937 - ): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5, Op. 72 (1993) The recordings of the fourth and sixth Kapustin concertos (see above and below) suggest that this may be a work with bass and traps as well as orchestra. It is undoubtedly jazzinfluenced, but I have not heard it. No recording known.

Malcolm Williamson (1931 - 2003): Piano Concerto No. 4 in D (1993) This is one of Williamson’s most effective pieces – in my opinion, his best JIPC. His stylistic eclecticism is in no way diminished, but the economical form makes the sudden contrasts more effective, and a kind of “unity in diversity” emerges as an overall theme. In the first movement, alto saxophone announces an explicitly jazzy second theme, followed by a series of calls and responses between sections of the orchestra and the piano, maintaining the jazzy rhythm. In the third movement, jazz is fully involved with the other elements. The piano sets up a raggy rhythm, and there is polytonal call-andresponse with the orchestra, with something of a jazz spirit. Some sustained piano chords seem to slow the rhythm, but the orchestra returns to the same tempo and accent, and the call-and-response begins again. The piano introduces some block chords in slower rhythm that hint at the main theme of the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which then alternate with several staccato passages from the orchestra. The piano returns to the syncopated rhythm, shading almost towards atonal boogie-woogie, and the orchestra comes in for a brief full-bore conclusion. Recommended recording: Piers Lane, p; Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; Howard Shelley, cond [Rec. 7/2012, Federation Concert Hall, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; issued as part of “The Complete Piano Concertos,” with the other three piano concertos, the two-piano concerto, and his Sinfonia Concertante for Piano, Three Trumpets, and Strings, on Hyperion CD, 2014 (14:53)] Nikolai Kapustin (1937 - ): Concerto for Piano and [Jazz] Band [with Electric Bass and Traps] No. 6, Op. 74 (1993) Kapustin’s most recent piano concerto shows some influence of rock, and more adventurous harmony than in the previous works I have heard. Musically, it may be his most interesting concerto, although the presence of electric bass and drums would work against its acceptance in a conventional symphony program. The first movement is scored in a way that suggests Lalo Schifrin to me, with some moments in a rockish rhythm that could be influenced by George Russell. I also hear some borrowed source material I haven’t yet identified in the boppish first theme. The third movement has two interesting rhythmic approaches, a rolling repetitive piano figure and a “skipping” rhythm in an unusual time signature. A false ending is followed by a complexly written ensemble workout, where the motifs combine and the piano exchanges with orchestra briskly, to a snappy finish. Recording: Masahiro Kawakami, p; “Special Big Band”; Daisuke Soga, cond [Rec. 3/12/2013, Kioi Hall, Tokyo] (Time: 18:00) Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t00R0AAMSTM William Thomas McKinley (1938 - 2015): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 (1994)

McKinley was a musician thoroughly steeped in the creation and performance of both jazz and classical music. From age 12 to 21, he was exclusively a jazz musician. He began classical composing in the early 1960s, and pursued a dual career through the late 1970s, after which he devoted himself to the classical side. McKinley wrote at least four piano concertos, but I have not yet been able to determine whether his first two (written in 1974 and 1987) are jazz-influenced. Jeffrey S. Sposato wrote a comprehensive biobibliography, published in 1994, which provides a great deal of useful information about his life and work, but his last two decades have not yet been definitively documented, and I have not been able to locate a complete list of his works on-line. The titles for each movement of this concerto are perfectly descriptive (“Blues,” “Ragtime,” “Slow Blues March,” and “Struttin’”). They show how strongly influenced by jazz this concerto is, but they do not effectively communicate how well these influences are integrated into a solidly classical context. It is a beautifully-crafted and satisfying work. Recording: Marjorie Mitchell, p; Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra; Robert Stankovsky, cond; with Three Poems of Pablo Neruda; Symphony No. 4 [Rec. 6/95, Slovak Radio and Television Studios, Bratislava, Slovakia; from MMC (Master Musicians Collective) CD, 1997 (21:10)] Available via Spotify. Avner Dorman (1975 - ): Piano Concerto in A (1995) Israeli composer Avner Dorman respects jazz, and in one interview, he even said that he “loves” it. He has used it in his formal compositions on more than one occasion, and this concerto shows how ingeniously he incorporates it. In the notes to the recording below, he says, “Even as a young child, . . . I found baroque very exciting . . . In retrospect, I guess it was the clear rhythms, the strong reliance on the bass, and the extreme contrasts that made this music appeal to me.” These three characteristics could be considered descriptive of jazz without the change of a single letter. The concerto is written for piano and string orchestra. Dorman says the piece is dedicated to Vivaldi, but alludes to jazz, “Nina Simone, The Police, The Cure, Stravinsky, and, of course, to Bach.” The first and third movements are very energetic, and the pulse slides towards a jazz feel without making it explicit. The use of a near-walking bass in passages of the last movement brings the music as close to outright jazz as it gets, but the vigor and abandon of the entire piece are jazzy in spirit if not in letter. From beginning to end, it radiates an openhearted and genial energy. Recording: Eliran Avni, p; Metropolis Ensemble; Andrew Cyr, cond [Rec. 10/07, Purchase, NY; issued on Naxos CD, 2010] (Time: 15:13) Available via Spotify [in three parts]. Michel Camilo (1954 - ): Concerto [No. 1] for Piano and Orchestra (1998)

Dominican-born jazz pianist Camilo wrote this concerto for his own performance. He toured it with some success in the US and Europe in 2001 and 2002, and he continues to play it; in fact, he’s playing it on March 19, 2015, with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic. The form is ultra-traditional: slow introduction, fast first movement, slow second movement, fast third movement. It even has traditional Italian-language tempo descriptions. The jazz is obvious, as is a liberal use of Spanish / Latin / South American rhythms. He also shows his debt to Ravel and Gershwin – in the third movement, there is a near-quote from Gershwin’s Concerto in F. Recording: Camilo, p; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, cond [Rec. 2/2001, The Colosseum, Watford, UK; issued on Decca CD, 2001] Available via Spotify [in three parts] William Thomas McKinley (1938 - 2015): Concerto in Two Movements, for Piano and Orchestra [Piano Concerto No. 4?] (1999?) Is this piece a memorial to Leonard Bernstein? It evokes him so strongly that I think McKinley may have intended it as one. There are few specific moments here that can be identified as directly jazz-influenced, but this is so clearly a piece that comes from a composer with a jazz sensibility that it must be included in this chronology. There is a piano passage in the first movement with a jazzy quality, and this leads to music with the distinct flavor of Bernstein’s music for the film “On the Waterfront” (1954), and his musical “West Side Story” (1957). Recording: David Pihl, p; Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra; Vit Micka, cond [Issued on MMC (Master Musicians Collective) CD, 2005] (Time: 21:12). No on-line recording known. John Adams (1947 - ): Century Rolls [for Piano and Orchestra] (1996? - 1999) This marvelous piece is one of several by Adams (including his recently-released Saxophone Concerto) that show his affection for jazz. Emmanuel Ax commissioned it as a piano concerto, but what he got is a glittering machine, like a traditional concerto in its form, where the piano functions as one of the major rotors. The title “Century Rolls” is a pun on the inspiration of the piece, Adams’s enjoyment of piano rolls from the early part of the 20th century. Each of the movements also has an ironic title. Adams says that the title of the third, “Hail Bop,” comes from his mishearing of a conversation in 1997 about the Hale-Bopp comet. Jazz is implicit in the first movement and explicit in the third, including some Gershwin-like syncopation in the first piano statement, a bit of walking bass, and a quote of the rhythmic pattern (not the melody) from “I Got Rhythm.” Recording: Emmanuel Ax, p; Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph von Dohnanyi, cond [Rec. 10/4/1999, Masonic Auditorium, Cleveland; issued on Nonesuch CD, 2000] (Time: 29:12) Available via Spotify [in three parts]

Carl Vine (1954 - ): Piano Concerto No. 1 (1997) Australian composer Carl Vine has an interest in jazz, and is another of the composers who considers it as one of many tools in the box. This is a colorful work, inventive and bright, with a strongly melodic slow movement. It has a number of jazzy touches in the first movement, including syncopation in the second and third subjects and some moments of jazzy articulation in the pianist’s part. The third movement brings explicit jazz influences to the fore right away, with spiky harmony, staccato piano, a brash interjection from the trumpet reminiscent of Shostakovich’s first concerto, and plenty of forward motion. Recording: Michael Kieran Harvey, p; Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Edo de Waart, cond [Rec. 2007?, Sydney?; issued on ABC Classics CD, 2008] (Time: 23:20) Available on YouTube [second movement only]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt0btVJtWzk. James Cohn (1928 - ): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1995 / 2000) Cohn was born in New Jersey and lives in New York City. Despite his eastern background, there is something “heartland” or “Midwestern” about his music, possibly the influence of Roy Harris, with whom he studied composition. An extensive interview conducted by Bruce Duffie in 1987 provides a great deal of insight into the man and his work [http://www.bruceduffie.com/cohn.html]. It includes this: “I’ve always tried to write for the general public . . . I’ve always had the French ideal of clarity, that you should be able to listen to the music and have a general idea, through its transparency, of how it is put together. I don’t believe in hocus pocus and throwing dust in people’s eyes. I would rather that it all be there, clear and transparent.” This concerto exemplifies those statements, and it shows a good deal of jazz influence as well. Overall, the mood is cheery and neoclassical, with a third movement built on the tango providing a witty and high-spirited conclusion. The first movement integrates jazz attack in the piano part with neoclassical Stravinsky and a wink at Ravel and Gershwin. The second movement seems inspired by the example of the slower ragtime tunes; there is a moment where a majorkey raggy theme is transformed into the minor, almost quoting “Moanin’ Low” (Ralph Rainger, 1929). The third movement tosses a bit of jazz into the tango mood; the movement edges good-humoredly towards a burlesque of the tango, but it never crosses the line. Recording: Mirian Conti, p; Latvian National Symphony Orchestra; Vakhtang Jordania, cond [Rec. 9 - 10/2001, Studios of the Riga Recording Company, Riga, Latvia; issued on XLNT Music CD, 2002] (Time: 14:40) No on-line recording known.

The 2000s Roel van Oosten (1958 - ): Piano Concerto (2001) Dutch composer van Oosten’s single-movement piano concerto is yet another directly influenced by Gershwin. There is a near-quote from one of the piano preludes at about two minutes into the piece, and a bit of Gershwin shading in the orchestral parts before the conclusion, with a hefty dose of Shostakovich for seasoning. However, it is essentially an updating of the late-Romantic piano concerto tradition and the jazz influences per se are negligible. It is an effective showpiece for the pianist, with plenty of energy, well worth hearing, but largely beyond the scope of this survey. Recording: Ivo Janssen, p; Philips Symphony Orchestra; Jules van Hessen, cond [Rec. 2004, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (Time: 17:42)]. Recording available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5frd5B8v_A Yehudi Wyner (1929 - ): Piano Concerto, “Chiavi in Mano” (2004) Wyner was born in Canada and raised in New York City. He has been an esteemed member of the Brandeis University faculty since 1991, where he is currently Professor Emeritus. In his Brandeis profile, he states an eloquent and simple philosophy: “to write the best, the most personal, and the most communicative music I can.” He won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2006 for this concerto. It is tightly and ingeniously constructed, unfolding in a single movement which might be divided into seven sections – fast-slow-fast-slow-fast-slow-fast. It relies on a staccato pulse for the basic rhythm, which ebbs and flows and eventually turns into boogie-woogie at the conclusion. There is a constant flow of conversation among the orchestral sections and the piano, and the orchestral colors shift mercurially. It makes for a thrilling ride, in which jazz appears sparingly until the boogie surprise in the concluding section. Recommended recording: Robert Levin, p; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Robert Spano, cond [Rec. 2/19/2005, Symphony Hall, Boston; issued on Bridge CD, 2009] (Time: 19:09) No on-line recording known. Iiro Rantala (1970 - ) [orch. w. Jaako Kuusisto]: Concerto in G♯▵A♭ [for Piano and Orchestra] (2002 - 2005) Finnish jazz pianist Rantala is an original talent, but, since he chooses to work primarily in his native country, he has not achieved the international stature he deserves. This concerto, written for his own performance, reflects his Puckish personality, stitching jazz into a fabric that also includes Beethoven, Chopin, Richard Strauss, Sibelius, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Gershwin, and Shostakovich, to take the classical influences in roughly chronological order, along with a series of musical jokes. Nonetheless, this is a real fastslow-fast piano concerto, and part of a venerable line of maverick / bad-boy piano

concertos, stretching back to Erwin Schulhoff’s 1923 Concerto [No. 2] for Piano and Small Orchestra and George Antheil’s Jazz Symphony from 1925 - 27. Recording: Rantala, p; Tapiola Sinfonietta; Kuuisto, cond / v [Rec. 5/05, Tapiola Hall, Espoo, Finland; issued on Ondine CD, 2006] Available via Spotify [in three parts] David Rakowski (1958 - ): Piano Concerto (2005 - 2006) Rakowski was born in St. Albans, Vermont, and currently holds the position of Walter W. Naumburg Professor of Composition at Brandeis University. In an interview with David Bruce on the Composition: Today website [http://www.compositiontoday.com/interviews/david_rakowski.asp], he says, “I just like putting stuff together,” and “If it sounds good, write it.” This concerto is a work with an overall feel of “serious play.” The incorporation of toy piano cannot help but evoke a smile, but Rakowski’s purpose is not satiric or ironic. His notes for the only recording describe this work as atypical for him, in that it is “a traditional concerto with traditional concerto interactions between individual and orchestra.” He also notes that the third movement, (a scherzo, which in itself is atypical for a concerto) has “jazz things in it (Dave Brubeck voicings, Art Tatum fast licks).” He provides a written cadenza in the final movement, but also offers the soloist the opportunity to write or improvise his or her own, and it would certainly be possible for a jazz-oriented player to provide a jazzier cadenza without in any way violating the spirit of the piece. There are some other touches that shade towards jazz, but the concerto never explicitly moves into jazz territory. In this regard, Rakowski is like other contemporary composers who accept jazz as one of many musical materials to be incorporated into a whole as he or she sees fit. Recommended recording: Marilyn Nonken, p, toy p; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, cond [Rec. 11/5/2007, Mechanics Hall, Worcester, MA; BMOP Sound CD, 2009] Time: (33:55) Armando Anthony “Chick” Corea (1941 - ): The Continents: Concerto for Jazz Quintet [Piano, Soprano Saxophone / Bass Clarinet / Flute, Trombone, String Bass and Traps] and Chamber Orchestra (2006) This piece was first announced as Corea’s “second piano concerto.” It then became a “concerto for small jazz group and chamber orchestra,” and took final form as an expansive (six movements, 72 minutes long) semi-programmatic serenade concertante for piano and chamber orchestra, with significant statements from other instruments. Long passages of jazz-soloist-over rhythm mark the piece as “jazz interacting with the classical tradition” rather than vice-versa. The jazz soloists in the only recording are players from Corea’s band: reedman Tim Garland (playing flute, soprano saxophone, and bass clarinet); trombonist Steve Davis; bassist Hans Glawischnig; and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Corea also gives significant solo space to individual voices from the orchestra, particularly violin, oboe, and clarinet. Notably, Corea treats all of the orchestra players as

the equals of the jazz players, not just accompanists, and he gives them a freeimprovisation passage to conclude the first movement. As a composed work, this is a significant advance from Corea’s first piano concerto, and he shows off a skill as an orchestrator here that is rare among jazz players who have written classical pieces. Each movement of “The Continents” is given a title (“Africa,” “Europe,” “Australia,” “America,” “Asia,” and “Antarctica”), but the overall tone is consistent, and the work really does not try to be a suite of tone poems. “The Americas” is perhaps the jazziest movement and includes a quote from “Autumn in New York.” “Asia” has a strong modal feeling, and there’s even a whiff of temple meditation. But “Africa” seems too short to do justice to the vast musical riches there, and “Europe” seems to consist mostly of Spain and France. I suspect part of Corea’s intention for the titles and the program is marketing – each movement may be more programmable by a symphony orchestra if it has an independence outside the frame of the entire piece., Recording: Corea, p; Tim Garland, ss, bcl, fl; Steve Davis, tb; Hans Glawischnig, b; Marcus Gilmore, dm; studio orchestra including members of the Harlem Quintet and Imani Winds, contracted by Corea and cellist Fred Sherry, who served as concertmaster; Steven Mercurio, cond [Rec. 6/2011, Manhattan Center Studios, NYC; Deutsche Grammophon CD, 1999] Available via Spotify [in six parts] (Time: 71:42) Brent Edstrom (1964 - ): Concerto No. 1 for Jazz Piano and Orchestra (2007) Edstrom has an active career as a jazz pianist in the Spokane Washington area, with recordings and print publications to his credit. He also has composed classical works. This piece has serious ambitions, and represents a demanding challenge for the soloist. Six movements (and more than 40 minutes) are perhaps a bit too much for a piece that is essentially light-hearted, although Edstrom probably wanted to make the most of this opportunity by evoking a number of different jazz eras and atmospheres. Gershwin’s spirit is pervasive, sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious. There are notable jazz influences throughout: a motif drawn from a Thelonious Monk tune as a second subject in the first movement; a New Orleansy mid-section in the second, with prominent tuba, traditional-style woodblock percussion and what sounds like some improvisation by the piano; a minor-key waltz in the third, gently articulated, very much in the spirit of Bill Evans; a whimsical blend of jazz with themes that have a Mozart-Haydn flavor in the fourth; in the fifth movement, a “pastoral” feeling a la Gershwin’s “Summertime,” but in a sunny major key; and shades of “An American in Paris” and the Paul Whiteman band in the last movement. Recording (Edstrom, p; with unidentified orchestra in live performance [possibly the premiere, played by the Coeur d’Alene [Idaho] Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Demand, 2007; no commercial release known] Time: 40:33): Available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYPVnubyUrM Thomas Oboe Lee (1945 - ): Piano Concerto . . . Mozartiana (2007)

Recommended rording: Robert Levin, p; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, cond [Rec. 12/19/2009, Mechanics Hall, Worcester, Massachusetts; issued on BMOP CD [with Lee’s concertos for flute, harp, violin, oboe and cello}, 2012] (Time: 20:43) Available via Spotify. David Amram (1930 - ): Three Songs: A Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (2009) From Richard Scheinin’s descriptive review of the concerto’s premiere, there is no doubt that this work belongs among the core JIPCs. I haven’t heard it. From “Pianist Nakamatsu and Symphony Silicon Valley debut spellbinding Amram concerto,” San Jose Mercury News, January 16, 2009 [http://www.mercurynews.com/lifestyle/ci_11471264]: “It's very American music, breathing Amram's love of Gershwin, jazz, black spirituals and Copland's hymn-lined melancholia . . . In the first movement, ‘Nigun (Song Without Words),’ the pianist must come to terms with Amram's wide jazz chords and nonstop chordal motion, which lies somewhere between Chopin and Tatum – or maybe closer to a jazz pianist like Ray Bryant, master of easy flow and bluesy snap-offs.”

No recording known. Donal Fox (1952 - ): Peace Out, for Improvised Piano and Orchestra (2009) Fox has proved his mettle in both jazz and classical. As a jazz pianist working frequently in the Boston area, his calling card is the creation of music that builds on and integrates classical themes. As a composer, he is effective in integrating jazz within formal structures. The composer provided to me the recording of the premiere performance of this work, and it clearly belongs among the core works of this chronology. Despite its relatively brief length (about 15 minutes), “Peace Out” is constructed like a true concerto. It is also a work that unashamedly puts improvised piano into a “serious” classical context. The improvised elements are so well-integrated that, except for the cadenza in the second movement, they are impossible to distinguish from the written ones. In addition to the improvisation, there is a specific jazz reference – Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time,” which is quoted and used as material for development in the second movement. No on-line or commercial recording known.

The 2010s

Michel Camilo (1954 - ): Concerto No. 2 for Piano and Orchestra, “Tenerife” (2011) From the evidence of his first concerto, this is undoubtedly jazz-influenced. I have not heard it. No recording known. Carl Vine (1954 - ): Piano Concerto No. 2 (2012) As of this writing, the piece has not been recorded commercially. Reviews of it do not cite any jazz influence, but the composer has used jazz elements in other pieces, including his first piano concerto (1997), so by default this work is temporarily included in the chronology. No recording known. Brent Edstrom (1964 - ): Concerto No. 2 for Jazz Piano and Orchestra [with String Bass and Traps] (2013) From the evidence of Edstrom’s first concerto and a preview written by Jim Kershner, this is undoubtedly a work directly influenced by jazz. I haven’t heard it. In “Edstrom’s piano concerto jazzes up a classical form,” 5/3/2013, The [Coeur d’Alene?] SpokesmanReview, Kershner says: “Here’s a short primer, courtesy of Edstrom, on what, exactly, to expect from [his second] jazz concerto: It features a jazz trio with Edstrom on piano (along with a bass player and drummer from the symphony’s ranks), accompanied by an orchestra with strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. It has the structure of a traditional concerto, in four movements. Edstrom calls it ‘a conversation’ between trio and orchestra. Most of the music will be played as written, but in several sections the trio is free to do some ‘blowing’ – extensive jazz improvisations.”

No recording known.

Nadia Charmaine Burgess (1958 - ): Concerto for Piano and Jazz Orchestra (2014) Burgess was born in South Africa, and resided in Sydney, Australia at the time of the work’s premiere. She has an active career as a jazz pianist. Among the influences for this piece, she cites the work of jazz composer Maria Schneider and Australian composer Carl

Vine. From the program notes at the premiere performance: “ . . . the piano is lifted out of its usual role in the rhythm section of the jazz orchestra and given centre stage to be the main voice carrying thematic material, performing notated and improvised solos and displaying virtuoso passages fitting to the idiom. Each of the three movements contains a section open for limited, directed piano improvisation which flows out of notation, whereas the cadenzas are notated. Improvised accompaniment by the guitar, double bass and drums is guided by chord symbols and drum-feel indications.” About the use of improvisation in the work, Burgess says, “I aimed to create a contemporary art music concerto in a jazz environment, so I steered away from jazz practices as much as possible.” Nonetheless, the mainstream listener will probably hear this work as a jazz composition that integrates classical elements rather than the other way around. The piano has the lead role in all three movements, and the orchestra does not engage in the give-and-take or competition with the piano that the classical listener might expect. The instrumentation (4 tp, 4 tb, 5 reeds, no strings, piano, string bass, and traps) is that of the standard jazz big band; in addition, Burgess allows the jazz rhythm section limited freedom to improvise a foundation throughout. As a result, the textures and timbres feel like jazz, although there are no extended passages of improvisation for the piano and the work unfolds compositionally along the lines of a classical concerto. Recording: David Allen, p; Sydney Conservatorium of Music Jazz Orchestra, incl. Felix Lalanne, g; James Heazelwood-Dale, b; Oliver Nelson, dm; Dave Theak, cond [Rec. 9/24/2014, Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, Australia (Time: 22:00) [Private recording, made by Sydney Conservatorium of Music; available via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PDsrKYf3RE&feature=youtu.be] Jussi Lampela (1972 - ): Piano Concerto [for Piano and Jazz Ensemble (Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, French Horn, Trombone, Tuba, String Bass and Traps)] (2014) Lampela was born in Helsinki, Finland, and studied in Los Angeles and Stockholm. He plays guitar and keyboards, leads his own jazz ensembles, and works extensively as a free-lance player and composer. He currently resides in Helsinki and teaches at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences. His concerto is scored for piano soloist and a jazz “little big band” (2 reeds, 4 brass, string bass, and traps [no strings]). The concerto will probably be heard by the mainstream listener as a jazz composition with adventurous harmony that integrates elements of the traditional piano concerto. The harmonic language is free but still grounded; Lampela cites the influence of Olivier Messaien on his harmonic thinking. In addition to the solo spots for the piano, Lampela provides ample opportunity for improvised soloing by trumpet, baritone saxophone, and alto saxophone in passages that call for the piano, bass and drums to operate as a traditional jazz rhythm section. Bass and drums also get improvised spots in the third movement. As of this writing, no commercial recording is available.

Appendix: Chronology of Other Notable Works for Piano and Orchestra There are a number of works for piano and orchestra about which it can be said that they would be different without the existence of jazz, but to call these works “jazz-influenced” would be misleading. Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953): Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26 (1913 - 1921) Recommended recording: Martha Argerich, p; Berlin Philharmonic; Claudio Abbado, cond [Rec. 1967; reissued in “Originals” series on Deutsche Grammophon CD, 1995] (Time: 27:04) Available via Spotify. Edward Joseph Collins (1886 - 1951): Concerto No. 1, for Piano with Orchestra Accompaniment, in E-flat (1925) Recording: William Wolfram, p; Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Marin Alsop, cond [Rec. 1/22/02, Henry Wood Hall, Glasgow, Scotland; Albany CD, 2003] (Time: 29:29) Available via YouTube [in three parts]: I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IGV0WqIIgw II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNZLeDKbDVk III: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=UTUrdMLLELA&list=PL67D4E1983DEBAA47&index=3 Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945): Concerto for Piano [and Orchestra] No. 2 (1930 - 1931) Recommended recording: Leif Ove Andsnes, p; Berlin Philharominc Orchestra; Pierre Boulez, cond [Rec 2/2003, Grosser Saal, Philharmonie, Berlin; issued on Deutsche Grammophon CD] (Time: 27:04) Available via Spotify [in three parts]. Marc Blitzstein (1905 - 1964): Piano Concerto (1931) Recording: Michael Barrett, p; Brooklyn Philharmonic; Lukas Foss, cond [Rec. 1/26/86, Manhattan Center, New York City; CRI CD, 1988] (28:31) Available via Spotify. Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963): Concerto in d minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra (1932) Recommended recording: Martha Argerich & Alexander Gurning, p; Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana; Erasmo Capilla, cond [Rec. 6/9/07, Palazzo dei Congressi, Lugano,

Switzerland; from “Lugano Concertos,” issued on Deutsche Grammophon CD, 2012] (Time: 25:10) Alternate recording: Pascal Rogé & Sylviane Deferne, p; Philharmonia Orchestra; Charles Dutoit, cond; issued on Polygram CD, 1994) Available via Spotify [in three parts] Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Concerto No. 1 [in c minor] for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings, Op. 35 (1933) Recommended recording: Martha Argerich, p; Sergei Nakariakov, tp; Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana; Alexander Vernikov, cond; [Recorded live in Lugano, Switzerland, 2006; issued on EMI, 2007] (Time: 21:37) Available via Spotify. Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943): Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 (1934) Recommended recording: Gary Graffman, p; New York Philharmonic; Leonard Bernstein, cond [Rec. 5/2/64, New York City; reissued on Sony CD, 1992] (Time: 23:07) Available via Spotify. Arthur Bliss (1891 - 1975): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, “Dedicated to the People of the United States of America” (1939) Recording: Trevor Barnard, p; Philharmonia Orchestra; Malcolm Sargent, cond [Rec. c. 1962, probably London; original issue on EMI LP; reissued on The Divine Art CD, 2000] (Time: 37:56) Alternate recording: Peter Donohoe, p; Royal Scottish National Orchestra; David LloydJones, cond [Issued on Naxos CD, 2004] Available via Spotify [in three parts]. Thomas Pitfield (1903-1999): Piano Concerto No. 1 in e minor (1946 - 47) Recording: Anthony Goldstone, p; Royal Northern College of Music Orchestra; Andrew Cyr, cond (Rec. 12/2003, Brown Shipley Concert Hall, Manchester, UK; issued on Naxos CD, 2005) (Time: 23:28) Available via Spotify. Howard Hanson (1896 - 1981): Piano Concerto in G, Op. 36 (1948) Recording: Carol Rosenberger, p; Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, cond [Rec. 1992, Seattle, Recording: Carol Rosenberger, p; Seattle Symphony; Gerard Schwarz, cond [Rec. 1992, Seattle, WA?; issued on Delos CD, 1992 and 2008] (Time: 22:23)

Alternate recording: Alfred Mouledous, p; Eastman-Rochester Orchestra; Hanson, cond; [Rec. c. 1965, Rochester, NY; reissued on Mercury CD, 2005] Available on Spotify [last three movements only] Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1949) Recommended recording: Pascal Rogé, p; Philharmonia Orchestra; Charles Dutoit, cond [Rec. 2/92, Salle Wagram, Paris; issued on London CD, 1996] (Time: 19:34) Available via Spotify. Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975): Piano Concerto No. 2 in F, Op. 102 (1957) Recommended recording: Dmitri Maximovich Shostakovich, p; I Musici de Montreal; Maxim Shostakovich, cond [Rec. Church of Ste. Madeleine, Outremont, Montréal, 8/1984; issued on Chandos CD, 1986] (Time: 18:15) Available via Spotify. Olly Wilson (1937 - ): Akwan, for Piano / Electronic [sic] Piano, Amplified Strings, and Orchestra (1972) Recording: Richard Bunger, p, Fender Rhodes e-p; Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Paul Freeman, cond [Rec. c. 1974, Baltimore, MD; issued on Columbia LP, 1975, as Volume 8 of its Black Composers Series] (Time: 16:25) John Harbison (1938 - ): Piano Concerto (1977 - 1978) Recording: Robert Miller, p; American Composers Orchestra; Gunther Schuller, cond [Rec. 5/13/80, New York City; issued on “American Masters” CRI CD, 2001] (Time: 24:26) No on-line recording known. Peter Lieberson (1946 - 2011): Piano Concerto (1983? - 1984) Recording: Peter Serkin, p; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Seiji Ozawa, cond [Rec. c. 1984, Symphony Hall, Boston; originally issued as New World LP, 1984; reissued on New World CD, 1992] (Time: 40:31) Available via Spotify [in three parts].

Acknowledgements No survey of this kind could be accomplished as a solo effort. I am very grateful to these people, who provided advice and suggestions along the way: Sue Auclair, Fred Bouchard, Doug Briscoe, Hendrik Broekman, Nadia Charmaine Burgess, Donal Fox, Cathy Fuller, Marc-Andre Hamelin, James David Jacobs, Jussi Lampela, Richard Pittman, Benjamin Roe, Anthony Rudel, Gunther Schuller, Cheryl Willoughby, and my ever-supportive and ever-patient editor, Bill Marx.