The reissue of keyboardist
Claude Bolling's recordings of the 1960s may prompt a positive reevaluation of his contributions.
Bolling has been known, at least outside France, mostly for the flute-and-piano works he composed for
Jean-Pierre Rampal; his recordings with
Rampal hit a certain popular groove and stuck with the formula. They were undeniably appealing in a simple way, but they became fatally overexposed.
Bolling's earlier recordings reveal more imagination in his treatment of the relationship between jazz and classical music. Take for example this 1965 album, recorded in Paris. It's one of the few successful jazz treatments of
Mozart, who is notoriously resistant to jazz treatment. The difficulty comes as a result of
Mozart's reliance on harmonic rhythm, or the speed of the rate of change of the harmonies in the music. This feature seems impossible to capture in jazz, which heavily relies on regular chord changes, but
Bolling's solutions here, making use of a classic jazz sextet, are brilliantly imaginative. There are several different twists on the basic idea, but essentially what he does is begin with the source music, only slightly tinged with jazz and usually played on his own piano. Where the music picks up speed and energy, he turns the sextet loose. The effect of hearing Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525, turned into a sort of New Orleans jam session is charming, but it wouldn't work without very careful structural planning.
Cherubini's aria "Voi che sapete," from The Marriage of Figaro, is a variation on the same theme: a nightclub jazz combo is used to move the music along. The Rondo alla Turca and a group of variations from the first movement of the sonata from which it comes provide short sketches of various ideas. Only the final Overture to