Mahler: Urlicht - Primal Light / Caine, Bensoussan, et al.

Mahler: Urlicht - Primal Light / Caine, Bensoussan, et al.

ASIN: B000007RYQ

On this CD: 1. Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor Funeral March
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

2. Nun will die Sonn'so hell aufgeh'n, song for voice & piano (or orchestra) in D minor (Kindertotenlieder No. 1)
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

3. Oft denk' ich, sie sind nur ausgegangen, song for voice & piano (or orchestra) in E flat major (Kindertotenlieder No. 4)
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

4. Symphony No. 1 in D major ("Titan") 3rd Movement
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

5. Symphony No. 2 in C minor ("Resurrection") Primal light
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

6. Ging heut'morgens übers Feld, song for low voice & piano (or orchestra) (No. 2 of 4 Songs)
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

7. Symphony No. 2 in C minor ("Resurrection") Andante Moderato
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

8. Das Lied von der Erde, for alto (or baritone), tenor & orchestra The drunkard in spring
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

9. Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?, song for voice & piano (or orchestra) in F major (Des Knaben Wunderhorn No. 4)
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

10. Das Lied von der Erde, for alto (or baritone), tenor & orchestra The farewell
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

11. Adagietto, for orchestra (from the Symphony No. 5)
Composed by Gustav Mahler
with Josh Roseman, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Larry Gold, Aaron Bensoussan, Mark Feldman, Danny Blume, Dave Binney, Arto Lindsay, John Olive, Joey Baron, Dean Bowman, Michael Formanek, Dave Douglas

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This auspicious, surprising, release debuted the Winter & Winter imprimatur, which carries on German producer Stefan Winter's longstanding role in blurring musical boundaries, as he did for so many years with the jazz label JMT. Pianist Uri Caine, known mainly for playing in the polystylistic mode of New York's downtown jazz scene, steeped himself in Mahler's music in preparation for the 1995 series of concerts leading up to this CD. Caine's ensemble--14 members strong, at points--recasts portions of Mahler's symphonic cloudbursts into a setting that smacks of klezmer, jazz, and crazy combinations of the scores' lavish bombastics. It's clear that Mahler's works tested the boundaries of so many available sounds at the turn of the century, from cantors to martial brass to Wagnerian bulk. Caine attempts it all, succeeding most somberly in the sections based on the Resurrection Symphony and most clangorously in the First Symphony's third movement, transformed into a serious klezmer bash by Caine, clarinetist Don Byron, and drummer Joey Baron. --Andrew Bartlett

Jazz Times
Caine effectively demonstrates how easily Mahler's Teutonic facade can be peeled back to reveal his Semitic origins. Not only does cantor Aaron Benrisoussan transfigure Mahler's solemn songs but Bensoussan's hand drums and vocalese also propels a Radio Tarifa-like interlude that is subsumed by an avalanche of sound.

Tracks:

Sym No.5: Funeral March
The Boy's Magic Horn: The Drummer Boy
Songs Of The Death Of Children: Now Will The Sun Rise As Brightly
Songs Of The Death Of Children: I Often Think They Have Merely Gone Out!
Sym No.1 'Titan': 3rd Movt
Sym No.2 'Resurrection': Primal Light
Songs Of A Wayfarer: I Went Out This Morning Over The Countryside/Resurrection, Sym No.2:...
Sym No.5: Adagietto
The Song Of The Earth: The Drunkard In Spring
The Boy's Magic Hn: Who Thought Up This Song
The Song Of The Earth: The Farewell

Amazon.com

This auspicious, surprising, release debuted the Winter & Winter imprimatur, which carries on German producer Stefan Winter's longstanding role in blurring musical boundaries, as he did for so many years with the jazz label JMT. Pianist Uri Caine, known mainly for playing in the polystylistic mode of New York's downtown jazz scene, steeped himself in Mahler's music in preparation for the 1995 series of concerts leading up to this CD. Caine's ensemble--14 members strong, at points--recasts portions of Mahler's symphonic cloudbursts into a setting that smacks of klezmer, jazz, and crazy combinations of the scores' lavish bombastics. It's clear that Mahler's works tested the boundaries of so many available sounds at the turn of the century, from cantors to martial brass to Wagnerian bulk. Caine attempts it all, succeeding most somberly in the sections based on the Resurrection Symphony and most clangorously in the First Symphony's third movement, transformed into a serious klezmer bash by Caine, clarinetist Don Byron, and drummer Joey Baron. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews:

jaw-dropping interpretation of Mahler.......2006-12-03

I am a Mahler fan - and I don't like jazz! So I was rather nervous at listening to this first time around. But I found it simply stunning. The resurrection symphony slow movement, complete with screeching solo violin emulating a searingly distorted electric guitar was, in fact, profoundly moving. And the sheer musicianship of the performers, in the more sensitive sections earned my utmost respect. This album is shocking, unbearable, gripping, lighthearted, exciting, mocking, reverential, tender - everything Mahler was. Fantastic buy!

Mahler revered.......2006-11-16

On his 1997 release Urlicht / Primal Light, Uri Caine took some of Gustav Mahler's most famous compositions, and, well, jazzed them up, with some of the most prominent musicians on the downtown New York scene, including Dave Douglas and Joey Baron.

What still surprises me about this beautiful album is just how faithful Caine is to Mahler. Unlike his later Goldberg Variations, this isn't Mahler deconstructed, it's Mahler revered, in a small group jazz (and at times, thanks to Don Byron , klezmer) setting. It makes perfect sense -- if some of the greatest jazz performances have come from mediocre show tunes, why not use symphonies and lieder as a starting point for improvisation?

Uri Caine's mutiny against Mahler.......2006-09-30

I've been a big Mahler fan since Bernstein's first recording (4th Symphony) as well as a knowledgeable follower of jazz. These pieces are grotesque caricatures of Mahler melodies and while I have not heard Caine's other depredations, after listening to this one I think I'll pass. If this is something released after a jam session that somehow was rescued from the cutting room floor, my apologies. But Mahler's melodies do not belong in a setting like this and who is Caine to try to improve on Mahler's orchestrations? Save your money.

raw, gritty and fertile freshly tilled earth.......2005-12-13

it's not pure as in so many anally treated works of Mahler. admittedly i am not interested in listening to see if the sonority of the instruments is perfect to some pompous standard, and it's not but there is another dedication here and an unmeasurable energy. i love the youthfulness of this work.

The New quintessential performance of Mahler.......2005-07-06

This is the story i was told when buying this record, it's been many years so this is as close as i could remember it:

"There is an annual competition where orchestras from all over the world come together to perform Mahler pieces. It's been going many many years... then along came Uri Caine. His orchestra included Cantors (jewish religious singers) and a cacophony of other messy instruments and ideas to perform with. They won to competition to the horror of stuffy stuck-up Mahler purists the world over.. How could this horrible mess win over all ther other very traditional (very similar and boring) performances!? Uri Caine's orchestra has continued to win every year since. Why? Because Uri's interpretation gives a fuller understanding of Gustav Mahlers background, his roots, he brings so much life to the music."

So then i actually listened to the music myself and it was breathtaking, funny, it told stories, it had personality, it was bursting at the seams with new ideas.

I listen to all kinds of music, but rarely jazz and rarely classical. I was not familiar with Uri Caine or Gustav Mahler, but after hearing that story, then listening for myself i had to have this cd. And while often my purchases are terrible mistakes, this one was a resounding success. This cd is my most treasured.

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