While as an arranger, producer, and songwriter
Jack Nitzsche was among the most important behind-the-scenes figures in American pop music of the 1960s and '70s, the few albums he released under his own name are (for the most part) offbeat experiments in orchestral arrangement and composition, with
Chopin '66 being the most curious, at least on the surface. For
Chopin '66,
Nitzsche took ten pieces by the Polish composer
Fryderyk Chopin and gave them new arrangements that staked out a middle ground between the traditional symphonic approach and a sound that had more to do with contemporary pop music. While this sounds like a recipe for potential disaster, the results are actually quite pleasing;
Nitzsche resisted the temptation to try to add a rock & roll groove to
Chopin's melodies, and while guitars and trap drums occasionally emerge in the mix,
Nitzsche approaches the music with affection and respect, and this album resembles
Nitzsche's later film scores or the epic-scale arrangements he created for
Neil Young rather than, say, "Nut Rocker" by
B. Bumble & the Stingers. These recordings have a light and graceful touch, and
Nitzsche's arrangements make it clear he wasn't trying to dumb down
Chopin for the kids (even if most of the tracks come in at under three minutes). In fact, if
Chopin '66 has a failing, it's that it was probably too sophisticated for its intended audience while too streamlined for classical buffs, but the album is still an experiment that rewards careful listening, and it's dated very little in the 40 years since it was first released. ~ Mark Deming