NIGEL KENNEDY : PLAYS JAZZ [UK 1990] CD

(Chandos) 1990 made in UK

cat. num. CHAN 6513

#jazz

1Body And Soul8:462Bag's Groove9:333Autumn Leaves9:404Swing6:085Isn't She Lovely4:296Lover Man9:067The Girl From Ipanema7:15

With his breathtaking technique and penchant for blending classical with jazz, rock, and more, Nigel Kennedy is both a maverick of the classical world and one of the biggest violin superstars of his generation. A prodigy, Kennedy was mentored by legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin in his youth and emerged in the 1980s with his breakthrough recording Vivaldi: The Four Seasons with the English Chamber Orchestra. The album was a huge success and launched his decades-long career at the forefront of classical music. Despite his mainstream acceptance, Kennedy bucked tradition, adopting a spiky mohawk haircut and eschewing formal-wear in favor of punk-inspired stage attire. He also embraced a genre-bending aesthetic, blending Jimi Hendrix's rock with Celtic music on 1999's The Kennedy Experience, tackling jazz on 2006's Blue Note Sessions, and displaying his original compositions on 2010's Shhh! While his iconoclastic tendencies have drawn both praise and criticism, he is a marquee draw, playing sold-out concerts virtually everywhere he goes. Similarly, while he never shies away from challenging his audiences with his genre-bending explorations, he remains a populist, ever espousing the desire to make classical music more accessible, and unafraid of returning to his roots as he did on 2015's Vivaldi: The New Four Seasons.