Customer Reviews

Classic Meets Cuba

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4 star:		(6)
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Sony Classical presents "Classic Meets Cuba", a classical period blending jazz, with a key ingredient of tradition, Renaissance and Cuban Salsa thus enters the Klazz Brothers & Cuba Percussion ~ Tobias Forster (piano), Kilian Forster (bass)(are the Klazz Brothers), Tim cock (drums), Alexis Herrera Estevez (timbales/vocal/cuban percussion) and Elio Rodriguez Luis (congas/vocal/cuban percussion) ~ witness a new sound of classical European compositions thrown into a swing and latin jazz syndrome ~ a variety of Cuban rhythms surface and melodic sparks fly. Listen and experience breath taking sessions with ultra high anxiety with selections from Bach, Beethoven, Bizet, Brahms, Chopin, Haydn, Monti, Mozart, Rimsky-Korsakov and Schubert ~ spontaneous interaction find a common musical bond complementing some very high talented musicians who stem from different parts of the world and cultures ~ music can bridge any obstacle.

Entire album is an interesting connection between three Germans and two Cuban musicians ~ without any interpreters we understand what is being performed and said here, music once again is the universal language ~ it is stronger today than ever...gotta love it!

Total Time: 70:32 on 16 Tracks ~ Sony 93090 ~ (2/03/2004)

Crossover efforts are always risky ventures that dance precariously between creative and contrived. There is definitely some of the latter on this 2002 recording, but surprisingly, far more of the former as the fruitful teaming of three German classical-jazz musicians and a pair of Cuban percussionist/vocalists puts a hearty Latin-flavored spin on some very familiar classics. Two of the Klazz Brothers, pianist Tobias Forster and bassist Killian Forster, took a fortuitous trip to Cuba and concluded the popular classical pieces they usually played could easily be adapted to the Cuban- and Afro-Cuban Jazz styles.

The beat-heavy results bear them out, as they developed fresh, energetic and lyrical arrangements of standard works by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Chopin, Schubert and others, that still respect the original compositions. The jazzed-up titles aptly (if a bit too preciously) reflect the changes - Mozart's Symphony No. 40 transforms into "Mambozart", Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 becomes "Salsa No. V", and Bizet's Carmen Suite turns into "Carmen Cubana". With titles like those, some of the pieces, perhaps because of their familiarity, come across as a bit too trite, for example, "Afrolise", which sounds bit too cocktail loungey to be too revitalizing a take on Beethoven's "Für Elise", and "Guten Abend", which sounds a bit like a somnambulant Vince Guaraldi take on Brahms's original lullaby.

However, the high points are abundant, starting with the three movements of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathétique," exciting pieces that feel culturally transformed by the sultry romanticism of the Cuban beats crowned by Tobias Forster's virtuoso playing. Also wonderful are the mournful "Czardas" and the conga-accentuated "Flight of the Bumblebee", both dominated by brother Killian's dexterous bass playing. The three others in the quintet are all equally superb musicians - Tim Hahn, the third Klazz Bother on drums, and Alexis Herrera Estevez (timbales) and Elio Rodriguez (congas), both of Cuba Percussion. The vital mix of sounds in what could have been a hopeless misfire makes for a genuinely exhilarating listening experience.

Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Chopin and other highbrow icons get the royal Latin dance treatment... I was skeptical, to say the least, when I popped this one into my stereo, but when it started to play, my doubts were dispelled. Both the Afro-Cuban and the European classical traditions get their proper due, and the arrangements are neither sugary nor awkward. Some nice lyrical passages, and plenty of killer percussion as well. Worth checking out!

Just, excelente stuff. Great quality. At first didn't imagine that that kind of music could be so so nice. Probably i'm going to buy more Cd's of Classic Meets Cuba, thanks

Old classical songs put into Cuban music. The
percussionists sweep you along w/ their resourceful
rhythms. This has been done very creatively with
much originality. I loved the CD & can't stop moving
my feet.

I heard one cut from this album and wanted to buy the whole CD. I love classical music. I also enjoy Cuban and salsa music. Combining the two seems almost impossible but the Klazz Brothers do it, and do it exceptionally well. They have managed to meld the beauty of classical with the joy of Cuban rhythm. This is a FUN CD, and an exciting one. It's music you can listen to and enjoy repeatedly.

Esta agrupación ha logrado ensamblar magistralmente el son, la salsa, con la música clásica. Una vez que uno escucha a Bach, Beethoven, Mozart reinterpretados por estos alemanes (Klazz Brother) y cubanos (Cuba Percusssion), no podrá concebir de otro modo la obra de estos grandes compositores.

Like others, I was skeptical when I heard about the idea, but this collection easily won me over. What I find so interesting is that the arrangements are so good, so creative, it's as though these well-known classical pieces were *written* as Cuban music. You find yourself completely accepting this genre-bending experiment.

Extremely enjoyable -- as is their companion album, "Jazz Meets Cuba".

A unique piece of mixed classic/jazzy music which matches wonderfully in my collection. It is trully remarkable to discover the full classical music-education of these performers, which brings them to make this wonderful CD of high-standard music.

I picked up this CD , with the IMPORT label stucked on the cover - verdict - it can't be tested... no testing allowed.
Sigh , anyway i heard the shop assistant told me this is not a bad CD, so i took the risk of picking it and purchase it.

I HAVE NO REGRETS AT ALL!
I practucally listend to it EVERYDAY.....

Track that i love the most is Czardas ( for Violin and Piano).
THe arrangement for this piece is MARVELLEOUS! I have no words for it,i loved the intro, the entry ....which moves in at the minute 2, and the most mindblowing part is towards the 30 seconds before the music ends :)

TRUST ME. THIS IS A SUPERB COLLECTION.
I've never encountered such a fine collaboration of Cuban Percussion + Classical Music with Jazz swing.