IN BLUE – THE GERSHWIN TALES
Including the Rhapsody
Maria’s request for a transcription of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue on the piano for Christoph Cech’s Jazz Orchestra Project was just the perfect opportunity for Christoph Cech himself, one Austria’s most experienced jazz composers, to create a whole concert program with the title “In Blue – The Gershwin tales including the Rhapsody”. It consists of further gems from Gershwin from the Great American Songbook. Cech’s fresh interpretations and the collaboration with a selection of the country’s greatest jazz talents promise a first-class concert experience, and yet, is still easily approachable for any type of audience. Following the premiere at MuTh in May 2022, IN BLUE has been programmed at Porgy & Bess and at the Festival Hochkultur.
Program
Piano Concerto for Maria – Christoph Cech
Fascinating Rhythm – Christoph Cech / George and Ira Gershwin
Blah Blah Blah – George and Ira Gershwin / Christoph Cech
A Tall Mall Sick – Christoph Cech
Explorer´s Lullaby – Christoph Cech / George and Ira Gershwin
A Foxy Day – George and Ira Gershwin / Christoph Cech
Piano Trio – Jazz Improvisation
Bess You is my Woman now – George and Ira Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue – George Gershwin / Christoph Cech
Maria Radutu – Piano / CC Jazz Orchestra Project
conducted by Christoph Cech
Instrumentation for 15 Musicians
2 Trumpets/Flugelhorn, Trombone, Tuba, Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxo/Alto Saxo, Alto Saxo/Baritone Saxo, Tenor Saxo/Soprano Saxo/Bass Clarinet/Flute, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Harp, Vocals, 2 Violins
Christoph Cech
His history with large orchestral formations in and around jazz already spans more than three decades. In addition to the Nouvelle Cuisine big band, co-founded with Christian Mühlbacher, which in 2016 showed a strong sign of life again with an appearance at Europe’s largest jazz festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, with Michael Mantler’s Jazz Composers Orchestra Update, Cech has given numerous workshops and concerts with big bands all over Europe, led the Euroradio Jazz Orchestra in 2019 with young virtuosos from all over Europe, has maintained an amateur big band in Vienna for 25 years and led the student big band of Linz’s Bruckner University, the Think Bigger Orchestra, to amazing concert highlights time and again for 15 years.
During this time, an uncountable number of works have developed, a selection of which Christoph Cech has now been recording with a jazz orchestra exclusively dedicated to his art, the Christoph Cech Jazz Orchestra Project CC JOP since 2016, thus fulfilling a long-cherished wish for himself and his fans.
Three double CD albums have been released so far: TITAN (2017), BLUE (2018) and METRIX (2020), which have received excellent reviews across Europe and bear impressive testimony to Cech’s masterful handling of large sound bodies.
Maria Radutu
Maria Radutu has performed as a soloist with the RSO Vienna, the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Orquesta Clasica Santa Cecilia, the California Symphony and the Las Vegas Philharmonic, among others. Her album “Phoenix” reached half a million streams and three nominations for Opus Klassik, her previous album “Insomnia” was released on Decca Records accompanied by music videos and was reviewed as a “first-class listening experience” (Die Presse). The latest album includes Shostakovich 1st Piano Concerto and Jolivets Concertino together with the RSO Vienna, Dirk Kaftan and Selina Ott. At MuTh, Maria Radutu has been curating her own subscription “Glasweise Klassiker” since 2021, which combines her live projects with selected wine tastings. Highlights auf Radutu’s coming season are the premiere of the first piano concerto by Margareta Ferek Petric, a concert tour in the United States, and a series of concerts with the new ensemble Tango5.