A Gershwin Night

Filmed live at the Waldbühne outdoor amphitheatre in Berlin on June 29, 2003, A Gershwin Night is not your father's Gershwin. While the Berliner Philharmoniker, under the baton of the impish Seiji Ozawa, hews to the musical line on the notable 20th century composer's masterworks "An American in Paris" and "Rhapsody in Blue," the orchestra shares the dais with the Marcus Roberts Trio, who regularly break in with improvisational flights of inspired jazz fancy. Although this decidedly nontraditional approach initially has a kind of start/stop feel, by the time the collaborators are into the allegro agitato of Gershwin's "Concerto in F," the tightly integrated sound has a truly organic vibe (and one can't help but think that the innovative Gershwin--who included French taxi horns in "An American in Paris"--would have heartily approved). In addition to these three major pieces, the program also features a rousing version of "Strike Up the Band" and a bring-down-the-house rendition of "I Got Rhythm" by the trio (Roberts on piano, Jason Marsalis on drums, and Roland Guerin on bass; the latter's slap bass routine is so impressive that at one point Ozawa leaves his seat to come take a peek at Guerin's playing). Also including Roberts' short piece "Cole After Midnight" and Paul Lincke's "Berliner Luft" (a local favorite), A Gershwin Night sounds magnificent in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1, and PCM stereo, and the disc boasts a fine 18-minute featurette, "They Got Rhythm," on the Marcus Roberts Trio. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)