Portrait In Seven Shades
Various Artists
Released:
Feb 2010
Label:
Jazz At Lincoln Center
Besides leading his own group, Ted Nash plays saxophone with the J.A.L.C. orchestra. For this exquisite release, Wynton Marsalis hands over the reins to Nash, who has composed tributes to seven modern-art masters. Nash wisely uses Duke Ellington as his musical starting point but his own sonic palette is expansive. The intense "Picasso" darts around daringly; "Chagall" starts out as an almost Fellini-esque march before it is overtaken by a seductive melancholy carried by violinist Nathalie Bonin; and "Van Gogh" features trombonist Vincent Gardner offering up rich vocals. This is a triumph.