Raphaël Imbert - Heavens (Amadeus & The Duke) (2013) [Hi-Res]

This project creates an exciting new bridge between Western classical music and African-American music. With his band of virtuosos, Raphaël Imbert weaves together the common themes in the worlds of Ellington and Mozart. Making each echo to the other's sound, he conjoins them in a musical marriage which brilliantly merges their works. Heavens is an immense modern jam session, drawing on eclectic multicultural sources: blues, chamber music, secular song, German lied, sacred music, stomp, gospel, opera...

Inspired by both written and oral traditions, driven by improvisation and a swinging momentum, the saxophonist reveals the genius of these two great Masters. He brings to the fore their humour and their spirituality, a spirituality which at times touches the universal imagination. If their worlds combine so harmoniously, it is also because the three creators of this exceptional work, Mozart, Ellington and Imbert, are all blessed with the same innocence, the same passion, the same joy in sharing. In Heavens, the music lover is raised to a rainbow paradise where the hearts of jazz and classical music collide and beat together, and where music is as much a state of mind as a question of style. How happy are we to experience the union of this trinity!

"Heavens: Amadeus & the Duke, a Raphael Imbert project is like Forest Gump’s momma’s box of chocolate— you never know what you’re gonna get, but it’s always pretty good. Call this a crossover album. It opens with wierd, electronic, squeaky bugs and bats nachtmusik, into which a solo sax riffs uncertain tones, and soon the band is playing 30’s swing with a funky flavour and the tone of sax is like a kazoo. Track 2 goes all Tom Waits whining, carnie, harmonies, and in Track 3 here comes the “Allegretto con variazioni” of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, K. 581: that goes goofy for a bit then the quintet comes back plus a rude, mocking sax, followed by Mozart’s Das Lied der Trennung, K. 519, given a very classy vocal treatment, like the Weil/Brecht “Barbara Song.” I could listen to a whole album of that, but then there’s anguished wailing of sax going crazy, then a soft voiced Pirate Jenny singing of that ship “the black freighter.” There follows sax and congas doing a perp mobile that calms down to a slow and lovely Track 5 that in track 6 explodes into heavily orchestrated song of a falsetto singing “my love my love” over and over with funky big band and gritty solo sax. Track 7 is more Mozart. On track 8, “Introduction/Heaven” a great girl singer, goes uptempo on guitar with drums. 9 is classical violin and then dissonant string quartet with snare drums and human German vocal of very excellent quality excerpting from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. 10 offers broken cabaret sounds from Ellington’s Black and Tan Fantasy. 11 is an intrumental of an Aria by the Commendatore from Mozart’s Don Giovanni entitled A “Cenar Teco,” (“You invited me to dinner”) that sounds, not inappropriately like the killing of chickens. Not a bad thing. That takes us to 12 of the 18 track total here, and you probably got the gist of what I’m feeling, so, end of story. Coda. This is a wonderful ride. Take it any time, if you are bent that way." (Stanley Fefferman, www.opusonereview.com)

Raphaël Imbert, bass clarinet, saxophone
Jean-Luc Di Fraya, chant, drums
Marion Rampal, chant
Emmanuel Haratyk, alto saxophone
Thomas Weirich, guitars
Luigi Vecchioni, violin
Marie Bereau, violin
Christian Wolff, violin
Florent Héau, clarinet
Simon Sieger, trombone

Tracklist:
01. Raphaël Imbert - Dancers In Love (3:08)
02. Raphaël Imbert - Such Sweet Thunder (3:12)
03. Raphaël Imbert - Quintette avec clarinette, K. 581: Allegretto con variazioni (5:49)
04. Raphaël Imbert - Das Lied der Trennung, K. 519 (4:57)
05. Raphaël Imbert - Ethiopi-K23 (3:39)
06. Raphaël Imbert - My Love (2:42)
07. Raphaël Imbert - Les Dissonances, K. 465 (1:39)
08. Raphaël Imbert - Introduction / Heaven (4:27)
09. Raphaël Imbert - Zwei geharnischte Männer (2:36)
10. Raphaël Imbert - Black And Tan Fantasy (4:25)
11. Raphaël Imbert - A Cenar Teco (4:31)
12. Raphaël Imbert - Praise God (3:21)
13. Raphaël Imbert - Man Came To Jesus (3:40)
14. Raphaël Imbert - Happy Go Lucky Local / The Beautiful American (4:59)
15. Raphaël Imbert - New World A-Comin' (1:38)
16. Raphaël Imbert - Come Sunday (4:30)
17. Raphaël Imbert - Die Himmlischen (4:08)
18. Raphaël Imbert - Ave verum corpus, K. 618 (4:49)
19. Raphaël Imbert - My Love (musical saw version) (2:29)