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| Pianist/Composer Ted Rosenthal to release four distinct new albums over the next year. Ted Rosenthal has enjoyed a prolific career, including fifteen critically acclaimed albums as a leader, "Trios in 4 Acts" marks the pianist's long-awaited return to the studio after more than a decade. The four new albums, recorded in a flurry of activity during the summer of 2024, each follow a separate thread that Rosenthal has explored over the course of his career. All four feature two stellar trios with whom he has been developing these ideas for more than decade: bassist Martin Wind and drummer Tim Horner, or bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Quincy Davis. Rosenthal has played in virtually every situation in which a veteran jazz musician might imagine – working as a sideman with such legends as Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods and James Moody, accompanying vocalists like Ann Hampton Callaway and Helen Merrill, performing with big bands including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and a soloist with the Detroit Symphony and the Phoenix Symphony. He has also composed a jazz opera and music for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Despite that broad spectrum of experience, Rosenthal insists that the piano trio remains the ideal ensemble. "It's the perfect combination, " he says. "You've got the anchor in the bass and the rhythm in the percussion; you have the opportunity for solo moments along with enjoying the interaction with your musical partners. You don't really need anything else." The limitless possibilities that Rosenthal finds within the trio format will be on vibrant display throughout 2025 as the pianist launches an ambitious series of releases under the informal title, "Trios in 4 Acts." Each of the four albums scheduled for release over the next 12 months will showcase a distinct facet of the artistry of his longtime working trios: familiar Songbook standards, inspired original compositions, jazz reimaginings of classical themes, and a look back at early jazz styles. "I've been extremely active performing, touring, composing and teaching over the past ten years, " Rosenthal explains. The stretch of time since his last release, Rhapsody in Gershwin (Playscape), has included the composition of his jazz opera, "Dear Erich, " inspired by a trove of letters written to his father by family members following his escape from Nazi Germany. The deeply personal piece was premiered by New York City Opera in 2019. He has also continued to mentor a new generation of rising stars through his work on the faculties of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music. "Trios in 4 Acts" serves as a return, at least in recorded form, to the core of Rosenthal's work by encapsulating a decade of evolution with a pair of remarkable trios. The yearlong project kicks off on March 21 with the release of High Standards, the pianist's latest collection of classic standards from the Great American Songbook and beyond. While many of the titles will be familiar to even the most casual jazz fan – including chestnuts like "Skylark, " "Old Devil Moon, " "Lover Man, " and the wry pairing of "Everything Happens To Me" and "It Could Happen To You" – Rosenthal's deft new arrangements bring an invigorating fresh perspective to these oft-reprised melodies. He also includes imaginative and swing inflected arrangements of Broadway songs less often associated with the jazz canon – "Jet Song" from West Side Story, "One" from A Chorus Line and "To Life" from Fiddler on the Roof. "All jazz players are looking for ways to make their music personal and identifiable, " Rosenthal says, "and in a way to improve upon what came before. I always tell my students that if they're going to redo something, it should sound better than the original. There has to be a real reason for it to exist, dramatically and musically. It becomes the best of both worlds, where you're taking something familiar and putting your own twist on it." High Standards will be followed in June by The Ted Rosenthal Songbook, a set of ten new original compositions, including four trio interpretations of pieces originally written for Dear Erich. While the "Songbook" idea suggests a career-spanning overview, The Ted Rosenthal Songbook focuses entirely on material penned in recent years, all strong enough to compile a complete book in itself. "In jazz, there are songs and there are tunes, " the composer says, defining the latter as pieces built primarily as vehicles for improvisation. "When I compose I always try to end up with something that I'm still going to be proud of and want to keep playing ten, twenty, even thirty years later." In October the series continues with Classics Reimagined – Impromp2, the sequel to 2010's Impromptu, Rosenthal's previous reimagining of repertoire from the classical canon. Impromp2 includes the trios' jazz transformations of classics by Dvorak, Brahms, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Chopin and others. On several pieces the trio is supplemented by special guests Ken Peplowski (clarinet) and Sara Caswell (violin). The final release of "Trios in 4 Acts" will arrive in January 2026 with The Good Old Days, a nostalgic yet inventive revisiting of sounds from the swing and ragtime eras. The album combines classics like Hoagy Carmichael's "Two Sleepy People" and Scott Joplin's immortal "Maple Leaf Rag" with Rosenthal originals in a vintage style. On a few tunes he and Tim Horner pair off for James P. Johnson-style drum-and-piano duets, including Rosenthal's "Schmatta Rag, " while on others he is joined by the versatile clarinet stylings of Ken Peplowski. "It was ambitious to record 40 songs for four distinct programs over the course of a short period of time, " Rosenthal concludes. "I'm very fortunate that both of my trios really embody the various moods and styles and can express their own swing and virtuosity within them. It was exciting to be back in the studio and to document the different but related themes that continue to fascinate me." As the curtain rises on Rosenthal's latest musical drama, audiences should settle in – these compelling originals and bold reimaginings will keep listeners in their seats until all four acts unfold. write your comments about the article :: © 2025 Jazz News :: home page |